


to the 'right' side (or the 'light' side)

by vending_machine



Series: the 'right' side [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Assassins, M/M, Spoilers for those who've only seen the anime, and all that shizzle, and mentions of death/murder/killing etc etc, rated M for foul language, secret agents, side MidoTaka (at the end), side MuraHimu (if you squint a bit)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-02-14 09:35:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 38,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2186724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vending_machine/pseuds/vending_machine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko, aka the phantom, is one of the members of the notorious, infamous group of assassins, dubbed the ‘Generation of Miracles’ for their perfect killing record.<br/>Kagami Taiga is a member of a private investigative team (Seirin) contracted by the government, who investigate crimes similar to those committed by the GoM.<br/>So what will he do when the phantom of this notorious group all but falls into his lap? Or, more accurately, into Seirin’s jail cell?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: capture

**Author's Note:**

> time for another long fic! ^^  
> this one's KagaKuro centric, though practically all the other GoM pairings to appear aha <3  
> I've also got the rough draft of where I want it to go down, and the first draft of the next 3 or so chapters done, so should (all things going well) be able to update once a week :)
> 
> as always, kudos and comments always v.v.muchly appreciated <3

The phantom stared at his reflection in the glass window. Blue lights flashed below, illuminating his face briefly in the otherwise pitch-black room. He watched, impassive, as the agents below spread out as, _finally_ , a few of them realised where the shot had come from.

Packing up his gun with slow, steady fingers, he wondered if his team, if the Miracles, would be able to figure out what he’d done. Considering it was his own idea, his own planning, his own thoughts, Akashi was probably the only one who’d figure out what he’d done, even if he’d never understand why.

He heard noise from below and set his gun at his feet, caressing the metal with small fingers briefly for what would probably be the last time. Sighing, he took a last look up at the stars, aware that this was probably the end of his freedom. And barely two minutes later, the door slammed open and a bullet slammed into his shoulder. He felt the pain, acknowledged it, and knew that he could either let it knock him out, or he could work through it and use it to escape. In the end, if his plan was to work, he had to choose the former, and he let blackness swallow him.

_\-----------_

_Two weeks later…_

There were ripples spreading throughout the underworld. The phantom had been caught. The mystical, unreal member of the Generation of Miracles was either dead or in police custody. Criminals shook in terror, despite him having been one of their own. Most had never believed that he’d existed. But with the rest of the miracles alive, and Akashi _extremely_ angry, something had clearly gone very wrong.

And now the rumours that the ghost had disappeared were giving the reason for Akashi’s fury. Akashi, the head of the most notorious band of mercenaries, had lost one of his men. He had failed to predict something – he had failed in that which he was known for. And he was not happy about it.

The rest of the Miracles were unusually sombre. The calling cards were still there, still tormenting the police, and all jobs were still going off without a hitch. But the calling cards were more obvious, almost taunting the police with their openness. And yet the police were not sure entirely as to what was going on. They only knew something had changed.

The secret service and those associated with them, on the other hand, was another story…


	2. Part One: the phantom: Chapter One

Riko stared down her team of agents.

“I have every reason to believe that the person in our cell,” she started out saying in a calm voice. “Is the Phantom.”

Everyone stared at her for a second, stunned.

“Coach?” their captain, Hyuga, murmured in disbelief.

“He’s not in any database, we don’t even have a name, no ID, nothing on him whatsoever. The police don’t know who he is, none of our snitches recognise him. He’s a total ghost. And on top of that, there have been many rumours these last two weeks of the Phantom’s disappearance. The so-called ‘Miracles’ approach to their crimes has changed. Something is clearly different. Ever since we caught _him_.”

“Who’s spoken to him?” Kiyoshi asked.

Riko clasped her hands on top of her desk. “No-one. He was sedated for the first week, to allow his shoulder to heal as rapidly as possible. For the last week, he’s been isolated. We don’t know his abilities, although they don’t seem as fearsome as they are rumoured to be if he was caught so simply. But we’re not taking any risks. He’s off all painkillers. His shoulder must be killing him. But he hasn’t said a word.”

“ _All_ painkillers? Despite being shot? And having a week to heal?” Izuki murmured in disbelief. “How is he not passed out in pain?”

Riko sighed, leaning back in her chair. “The government have said they don’t want to deal with him. We’re private contractors who caught him independently, so they said we can do as we like with him. So long as he is no longer a threat to society, we can take care of him however we wish.”

“A little cruel for them, isn’t it?” Kiyoshi murmured.

Riko smiled humourlessly. “The only problem is, I don’t know _what_ to do with him. If he is the Phantom, then he should be locked away as fast as possible. If he’s just a petty contractor, there’s no reason to keep him here.”

“Why _is_ he here?” Kagami broke in, brain thinking furiously. “If he _is_ the Phantom, as you believe him to be,” he continued as everyone turned to look at him, “There’s no way in hell he’d be caught so easily. From what I heard, he was practically just _waiting_ for the officers to come. He probably didn’t expect them to shoot him on sight but… it’s as if he was giving himself up. If he isn’t the phantom… he probably just made a mistake with his timing. But I still can’t believe that someone was such an easy sitting duck, unless it was on purpose.”

Riko sighed. “I’ve thought of that. But he must know that if he’s in trouble and looking to us for help, he’s as good as dead. If he’s not in trouble, and just the phantom, he’s as good as jailed for life. I see no advantage for him turning himself in.”

Kagami sighed. “What’s he done for the last week? What’s his behaviour like?”

“He’s… meek,” Riko sighed, switching on the camera feed from the cell. The team stared in shock. He was… _small_. A mess of pale blue hair covered the top of his head as he sat on his bed, legs crossed and eyes closed. His face was expressionless, the bland grey of the prison uniform draining his pale skin of colour even further. He wasn’t wearing the oversized t-shirt, but had instead fashioned it into some form of a sling for his injured shoulder. The wound looked red and raw and almost everyone winced in sympathy.

“He wakes up at exactly five thirty a.m. every day, not a second later and just sits there, like that, all day every day except for meal times. Then,” she rewound the tape to show a meal being slid through his door. The male waited twenty seconds, then stood, fetched the tray, and started to eat. Slowly, methodically, neatly. When he was done, he drank the glass of water provided in the paper cup, placed everything neatly back on the tray as it had come, and slid it back outside of his cell.

“He does that every time,” Riko continued as she switched back to the live feed. “He goes to bed at ten p.m. at night and seems to sleep instantly. No variation in his routine.”

“I don’t get what he’s trying to do,” Hyuga murmured. “Why? This makes no sense whatsoever.”

“He’s telling us he won’t run,” Kagami murmured, eyes trained on the screen. “That he’ll behave. He’ll abide to our rules. Well, for as long as they suit him,” he added, aware of everyone looking at him again. As soon as the words had left his mouth, the prisoner opened his eyes and looked directly into the camera.

Kagami blinked in surprise as wide blue eyes seemed to hit him from behind the TV screen. The entire team murmured, confused.

“He shouldn’t know where the camera is,” Riko murmured, frowning worriedly. “It’s very well hidden. There are several other spots it could be.”

“Maybe he’s guessing?” Koganei suggested, sitting atop a desk.

“He’s not looking at any of the other spots,” Kiyoshi pointed out. “He’s got to be sure. But how did he know?”

“ _If_ …” Kagami hesitated. “ _If_ he _is_ the phantom, he might have orchestrated the entire thing. Which means he’ll have researched us, researched what would have happened should he have been caught. He’ll have known the government are leaving the Miracles and those associated them to our kind of independent teams. So he knows how we work, how we think. He’s got us already. We’re just dancing to his tune.”

The blue eyes shut again and Kagami felt something in his stomach loosen.

“Well what do we do then?” Hyuga sighed. “It means he planned to be caught by us, to be kept here. What does he want from this?”

Kagami shrugged. “I can’t get that far in his head. I don’t get him at all,” he admitted.

“Well you’ve understood a lot so far,” Riko mused.

“Just guesses,” Kagami murmured, his eyes flicking to her. “I don’t know… something about this just feels weird to me. Kind of… familiar? Like I’ve seen him before…” he mused, staring at the screen, but even as soon as he said the words he knew that wasn’t true. So what was this?

“Well, we won’t know unless we talk to him,” Riko sighed, standing up. “Hyuga, Kiyoshi, go fetch him and bring him to the interview room. Kagami, you come with me to talk to him. I want your insight on this.”

Kagami blinked in surprise, but nodded and followed her out of the room.

\-----------

Half an hour later, Kagami and Riko watched behind the one-way glass as Kiyoshi and Hyuga flanked the smaller male, leading him into the interview room. As usual, they cuffed his hand to the chair and then left the room.

“Why didn’t you handcuff him coming here?” Riko murmured as they entered the little room they were in.

“He asked that we didn’t, on account of his shoulder,” Kiyoshi replied with a sigh. “And offered that we could keep our guns trained on him if we so wished. But he said he wouldn’t do anything, and we believe him.”

Riko sighed. “Be glad he didn’t,” she murmured, but said no more on the matter. “Anyway, record this from the cameras,” she ordered. “And keep someone on standby just in case.”

Kiyoshi nodded and followed Hyuga from the room.

“He’s so small,” Riko murmured quietly, watching the prisoner sit still in the cold room. “Hard to believe he’s a killer.”

“True,” Kagami agreed quietly. “But that’s the kind of thinking that easily leads one astray,” he added carefully.

“So it is,” Riko murmured. “Well, come on then.”

They entered the room, Kagami just behind Riko. Riko sat opposite the blue-haired male and Kagami stood just by the door, ready just in case anything happened.

“Before we begin,” Riko started, “I am legally obliged to inform you that we are recording this interview for further investigative and safety purposes.”

The boy inclined his head. “Understood, Miss Aida Riko,” a quiet, polite voice left the small boy, almost making the two agents jump. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Riko frowned slightly. “How do you know who I am?”

“Head of the Seirin, one of the most skilled teams of special agents not affiliated with the government aside from occasional short-term contracts. Most people know who you are,” he replied, his language that of the politest Japanese one could use. “Well, those in my profession.”

“Which is?”

Blue eyes never wavered, never blinked. “Murder.”

“You admit to it, then,” Riko sighed.

Kagami watched, unsure as to why his stomach was churning so much as the blue-haired male gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I see no reason to deny it. You caught me at the scene of a murder crime, after all. My weapon was with me. All other evidence leads to me. What else would I be, if not a murderer?”

Kagami didn’t know why, but he felt that the last question had much more meaning than its face value.

“So you admit to murdering Kanako Tanaka?” Riko asked, her face as professionally blank as was possible.

“All evidence leads to that conclusion, so it must be the truth,” the blue-eyed male didn’t answer directly.

“Who are you?” Riko asked bluntly.

Those blue eyes finally gave somewhat of a reaction, eyelashes fluttering slightly. “I believe you have already deduced my identity,” he murmured. “Do you really need confirmation?”

Kagami watched closely. There was something… _off_ about this. There was no doubt he was the phantom. He was practically admitting it himself. So what was this? What did he _want_?

“I suppose not,” Riko allowed. “Your calling card was found with you at the scene. Though a name other than ‘the phantom’ would be welcome.”

The phantom’s head tilted slightly, as if in deep consideration. “I suppose…” he murmured softly, “those who would want to call me a name would call me Kuroko.”

“Kuroko? As in black child?” Riko confirmed, writing it down in her notepad. “Is that why your calling card is also black?”

“Yes, to both questions,” he answered with a small incline of his head.

“And a first name?”

His head tilted a little more, considering again. Kagami barely suppressed a frown. What was this guy doing? A trick? A lie? Or was it truth?

“Tetsuya,” he eventually replied. “I believe that to be my first name.”

“You believe?” Riko echoed.

“I haven’t used it myself in quite some time,” an odd smile flitted over the boy’s face, almost too fast to catch. “My apologies. I never particularly liked the name either.”

Riko wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“Kuroko,” Kagami broke in.

“Kagami Taiga,” the prisoner inclined his head Kagami’s way, blue eyes meeting red. Kagami felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach as he was sucked into empty, soulless blue.

Pushing away from the door, he took a step closer to Riko. “Did you murder Kanako Tanaka?”

“I pulled the trigger,” Kuroko replied quietly. “But her life was gone long before I did.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kagami asked before he could think.

“I assumed you would have checked the autopsy reports by now,” Kuroko blinked, blue eyes still void of life.

Riko sighed and stood. “Interview temporarily suspended,” she announced, and led Kagami out of the room. Kagami glanced back as the door shut. Kuroko was sitting perfectly still in his seat, eyes trained on the table.

Kagami couldn’t help but wonder as to what on earth had Kuroko done in his lifetime to garner that many demons in his eyes. Which didn’t make sense at all. He shook it off, those eyes had been empty. Sighing slightly, he followed Riko to go and collect the autopsy report for one Kanako Tanaka.


	3. Chapter Two

“Do you understand now?” Kuroko asked as the two of them re-entered to room and re-started the interview.

“She had cancer,” Riko replied, “Terminal.”

Kuroko inclined his head slightly in agreement. “Did the coroner find anything else?” he enquired, face still blank and giving nothing away.

Riko frowned. “What do you know?”

Kuroko paused for a long second. “I suppose rape, when done in a certain way, wouldn’t leave any marks,” he considered. “Or, if they did, one’s husband could claim that she enjoyed it rough. She can’t argue with that if she’s dead.”

Distaste flickered over Riko’s features. “You’re claiming she was raped?”

“When one has an abusive partner, isn’t it logical?” Kuroko questioned.

“How do you know her partner was abusive?”

“How do you know he wasn’t?” Kuroko returned.

“How did you know Kanako Tanaka?”

“She was my target,” Kuroko replied simply. “For execution.”

“By whose order?”

“By whoever signed the contract,” Kuroko replied. “I worked through a middle man.”

“The man known as Akashi?”

Blank eyes stared up at the ceiling for a long moment. “Akashi-kun is… not a middleman. His role cannot be described in such simple terminology.”

“Then describe his role,” Riko demanded.

“I… cannot,” Kuroko’s eyes met Riko’s again. Kagami listened on in disbelief. “I have hereon severed all ties to the man known as Akashi, and his group of associates.”

Kagami knew something extra was meant in that sentence, but couldn’t for the life of him figure out what.

“Then surely you can explain his role to me,” she repeated sweetly.

“I do not want to die,” Kuroko returned.

“Surely severing your ties will leave you for dead in any case? If you have knowledge as you seem to claim you do…”

“Your point is valid,” Kuroko agreed. “However, I believe Akashi-kun will understand. He has been aware of my emotions for quite some time.”

“And your emotions are?”

“I am tired,” Kuroko replied, eyes finally shutting. Kagami stared, admittedly surprised.

“Tired?” Riko echoed, frowning. “Tired of what?”

“You’re haunted too,” Kagami barely realised what he’d said when he automatically knew he’d done wrong. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, _fuck_.

Blue eyes met his. Impossibly, inexplicably, something softened inside them and Kagami felt his heart skip a beat. The possibilities in this man… Kagami wasn’t sure if it was real.

“Who wouldn’t be?” Kuroko replied and Kagami felt his foreboding disappear. He hadn’t fucked up. Kuroko understood. But Riko was frowning at him and he knew he’d be in shit with his superior later on.

“In regards to Mrs. Tanaka,” Kuroko switched back, “I believe if you look at Mr. Tanaka’s bank account, you’ll see the funds used for a private doctor for his wife’s wounds. I also believe that if you look at her own bank account, you will see the fifty million yen she transferred to an unknown bank account as payment for her own murder.”

“Her _own_ murder?”

“Would you be happy with a life wherein the man who had sworn to love you, did so in a way that injured you severely? Where all personal freedoms were stripped from you? Where everything you thought was true, turned out to be a lie? And then, to top it all off, you only had a limited amount of time left, only to go through a slow, painful treatment that would do nothing but delay your death?”

Again, Kagami’s brain shouted that some of these questions went far deeper than their simple wording. But he didn’t understand _how_.

“Interview end,” Riko sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Kiyoshi, Hyuga, come and take the pri- _Kuroko_ back to his cell.”

“Before I go, may I request something?” Kuroko asked.

Riko frowned at him. “My patience is wearing thin,” she warned.

“Acknowledged,” Kuroko nodded. “However, if it is at all possible, I would be much appreciative of another blanket. My room is a little cold since I am currently unable to wear a t-shirt,” he explained, glancing down at his make-shift sling.

Riko frowned. “I’ll get that sent to you with your dinner.”

“Thank you very much,” Kuroko inclined his head, “Both of you.”

Blue eyes briefly met his again and Kagami could barely tear his away. Damn it. Who was this dude?

Kiyoshi and Hyuga took him back to his room without a hitch, and he settled back in his usual spot as if nothing had happened.

“What did you guys think?” Riko asked as they all gathered back in her office.

“I don’t get him at all,” Kiyoshi shook his head. “And that bit about the woman contracting her own murder? It sounds weird to me.”

“I don’t know,” Hyuga murmured, looking thoughtful. “If one couldn’t kill themselves personally, I don’t see why hiring a hit man is so far out of the picture. The main question would be how would a high-status woman like her under an abusive husband’s thumb, get in contact with someone like Akashi?”

“If it even did go through Akashi,” Koganei added. “The phan- Kuroko, he said he’d gone through a middleman. He mentioned Akashi but never specifically agreed that it was him.”

“True,” Riko granted. “And if he severed all ties with Akashi now, he may have been separating himself for a while. Which means he might have been using other middlemen.”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Furihata finally spoke up. “Akashi and his group aren’t known to socialise outside themselves. Even if he broke away from Akashi now, I can’t see someone crossing him beforehand.”

“Unless she was someone Kuroko knew personally.”

“I doubt that,” Kagami shook his head. “He’s a ghost for a reason. I doubt he knows anyone outside of his circle.”

Riko sighed. “We’re barely getting anywhere,” she groaned.

“We know more than we did before,” Hyuga reminded her before. “He is the phantom. For some reason, he’s severed ties to his previous group.”

“Why now?” Koganei murmured.

“It was a message,” Kagami realised. “To Akashi. He’s announcing it to him.”

Riko frowned. “But there’s no way Akashi would know.”

“I think he knows,” Kagami returned, starting to pace. “Think about it. Akashi’s known as the head of the most notorious, most powerful assassination circle in all of Tokyo. Yet he has only five underlings, including the ghost? If one disappears, especially one with as much mystery as his phantom, he’s going to be searching for him. And if he’s that powerful, as much as I hate to say it, he should be able to hack into our systems to find him. I think Kuroko knows that Akashi’s going to see that interview, see that message.”

“But… what if Akashi comes for him?” Furihata bit his lip.

“We’re caught in the middle,” Riko sighed.

“I don’t think he will,” Kagami didn’t stop pacing, thinking furiously. “He said Akashi understood. I don’t know if this is true, but it seems to me like the phan- like Kuroko’s been thinking of quitting for a while. Something just made him snap…” he trailed off, unable to quite reach the final pieces of the puzzle without more information.

“How can you be so sure?” Riko asked.

Kagami stopped, confused. “I… ah, I don’t know,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just a hunch, really.”

Riko sighed. “We’re just going in circles here. He admitted to killing Kanako Tanaka. We should just lock him up somewhere else and be done with it.”

“What if she really did hire him, though?” Hyuga contemplated. “It wouldn’t be murder then.”

“It would still be assisted suicide,” Kiyoshi countered.

“I think he’s still got something to say,” Furihata sighed, staring at the screen. “Don’t you think so, Kagami?”

Kagami looked at the mop of the blue hair and had to agree with his colleague.

“Whatever happened… he’s in here because he willed it so,” Kagami agreed. “He wouldn’t have used us to send a message like that to Akashi… I just don’t get why he needs _us_.”

Riko sighed, sitting back in her chair again.

“We won’t transfer him yet. We’ll give him another two weeks, then decide. It’ll give us time to see if anything from Akashi comes too.”

With everyone’s silent agreement, the decision was made.

\-----------

“Ah, his blanket,” Riko sighed an hour later, having sent everyone but Kagami, Kiyoshi and Hyuga out on errands. “Kiyoshi, call the warden, I want to edit his dinner order.”

After another hour of mostly paperwork, their warden finally appeared with Kuroko’s food on a tray and a cheap blanket.

“Deliver it to him,” Riko ordered Kagami. “I want to see what he’ll do if alone with you.”

Kagami nodded and took the tray and blanket off the small, frail old man who managed their high-security jail cells. He was led down to the second-level basement, where Kuroko had a small room of his own, secluded from all the other prisoners.

Kagami touched the door lock with his ID card and the light turned green. Stepping inside, Kuroko stood at his entry, face as impassive as ever.

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko greeted him cordially. “Thank you.”

Kagami nodded as he set the food down on the table, and the blanket on the end of the bed.

“Is there anything else you need?” he asked, the words flying out of his mouth without his head’s permission.

“I’m quite fine,” Kuroko shook his head lightly. “Though thank you for the consideration.”

“Of course,” Kagami murmured.

“Might I ask you a personal question?” Kuroko asked after a long moment and Kagami made no move to leave.

“Can’t promise I’ll answer it,” Kagami replied with a shrug. “But go ahead.”

“Who was it?”

Blue eyes met red and Kagami sighed. He couldn’t pretend he misunderstood Kuroko’s question.

“The first was a guy, a little older than me, crazy off meth. The second… a woman my age. She was about to kill her husband for cheating, so I disabled her but… she bled out before the ambulance could reach us.”

Kuroko’s eyes seemed to soften again and Kagami felt his stomach loosen. “Two,” he murmured quietly. “Would you do it again?”

Kagami felt the wound like a knife and Kuroko watched as he visibly shut down.

“My apologies,” the blue-eyed boy offered quietly. “I… I didn’t intend to upset you.”

Kagami shook his head and headed for the door. He hesitated with his hand on the doorknob, glancing back to see Kuroko still watching him, the expression in his eyes indecipherable. “I would,” he admitted. “For everyone else’s safety.”

Kuroko inclined his head. “Someone once told me regret is a waste of time,” he murmured, the toneless voice now infused with a tiny hint of _something_ changing it. “But without it, we can never really move forward, I suppose.”

Turning away blindly, Kagami left the room and shut the door behind him. Fuck. What was this?

His hands were sweaty and he wiped them roughly on his trousers before heading back up to Riko’s office to see what the other’s had thought from the video feed.

\-----------

Kuroko sat on his bed again after finishing his dinner, ignoring the steady, screaming pain coming from his shoulder. Kagami had not been in his plans. He wasn’t sure what it was, but the redhead put him on edge.

And for Kuroko to ask such a personal question… and then _regret_ , of all things, _hurting_ the other with nothing but words… it was unfathomable. Closing his eyes, he thought of Kagami and what he’d observed of the agent up until now.

Carefully controlled. A quick-trigger temper, which is probably why he was working for independent contractors as opposed to the government. A man like that wouldn’t deal well with the ridiculously restrictive amount of red tape the government insisted on. Intelligent, even if he did let his emotions run away with him sometimes. Obedient – though that was probably only when he wanted to be, Kuroko added, which was another strike against government employment. Well-built, made for combat. He’d have been a good athlete, Kuroko mused. So why law enforcement? Power? Kuroko couldn’t fully see it, which made him wary. For who didn’t want power? But instead? What drives a man to devote his life to the law? A need to protect? He could see that fitting in with Kagami’s profile. Kuroko let out a careful sigh, his body giving off no signals.

He wondered if they’d send Kagami back after he’d asked such personal questions. Riko and the others were sure to be wary. Kagami himself might not _want_ to return, since Kuroko had clearly brought up painful memories.

Kuroko wished that he still felt that strongly about taking other’s lives. But he’d long since become accustomed to it. He wondered if that was the worst crime of all. Not just the taking of lives, but being totally ambivalent about it. It reduced the target to nothing. Gave their live no value other than the money placed on their heads.

By now, Riko and the others should have traced the money that he’d advised and found that it was exactly as he’d said. He wondered if he could gain their trust, if they would allow him to help them, to direct them to prevent any more people dying by the miracles’ hands.

Because ever since it had become a competition, ever since Akashi had lost the last of his humanity, the other miracles had lost theirs. And Kuroko, for all of his expressionless, couldn’t stand it. He needed them to be as they were. For them to have the hearts they once had. Though, obviously, they weren’t normal. When killing was your source of income, one’s heart couldn’t be that of a normal person. But when one was competing with others as to whom could kill the most people in a month, who could kill the person worth the most money, that’s when one was on the brink of the abyss. And Kuroko needed to bring his friends back. It was the only thing he was living for.


	4. Chapter Three

A week passed without any further change. Kuroko sat alone in his cell for the duration, as Riko and her team did more surveillance, more investigation. And finally, _finally,_ they could judge that Kanako Tanaka had indeed paid a hit man to kill her.

“What do we do?” Hyuga sighed, slumped on his desk. “Kuroko was right.”

“He still hasn’t made any further requests for anything,” Riko murmured. “I’d assumed he would have.”

“He’s waiting for us to go to him,” Kagami sighed, staring at the blue-haired figure on the screen again. He wasn’t sure what it was, but after their conversation a week ago, Kagami was for some reason totally sure that Kuroko wanted to _help_ them.

Which was crazy. Right?

“Coach,” Kagami finally gave in to his own wants. “Would you let me talk to him? One-on-one?”

Riko sighed. “We don’t know what to do with him. May as well talk to him. But while you’re there, see if he’ll tell us how Kanako got in touch with him.”

Kagami nodded and headed down to the basement again.

Passing a vending machine on his way, he bought two bottles of water on a whim and carried them with him into the room.

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko greeted him, a little surprised at the redhead’s presence. “I didn’t think I’d see you here again.”

“I have a few questions,” Kagami started.

“Of course,” Kuroko nodded. “Would you like to sit?”

Kagami took the dining chair as Kuroko returned to perch on the bed. “Here,” Kagami held out the bottle of water. Eyes flashing with something like surprise, Kuroko accepted it and carefully unscrewed the cap.

“Thank you.”

Kagami shrugged. “How’s your shoulder?”

“Fine,” Kuroko nodded. “I should thank the person who shot me. They had good aim. It shouldn’t impair me at all in the future.”

“There’s something fucked up with that statement,” Kagami said wryly.

Kuroko’s eyes met his, surprised at the gentle tease. That hadn’t happened in a long, long time. Ever since Aomine-kun had been happy. Kuroko forced the thought from his head. He couldn’t think of his ex-partner now.

Kuroko offered a shrug, now able to use both his shoulders even if it did sent a bolt of pain through him. But he’d grown used to it, so could mostly ignore it by now.

“I suppose,” he agreed. “I should be glad they didn’t aim for my heart. Or stomach. Gut shots are the worst.”

“You’d know?” Kagami asked, surprised. Kuroko said nothing, but tugged his t-shirt up to show and old scar in the shape of a small starburst on his stomach.

Kagami couldn’t say anything to that, lost for words.

“Anyway,” Kuroko said, surprisingly self-conscious as he pulled his t-shirt back down. “What can I do for you?”

“How did Kanako Tanaka get in touch with you?”

“There is a system that one can use if they want Akashi’s particular services,” Kuroko leant his head back against the wall, feeling tired again. “There are several… associates, I should say, of Akashi’s, who are embedded throughout all of Japan’s various social circles. They analyse people, see who may need Akashi’s type of services, and provide a way to get in touch once they’re sure that they’re trustworthy. They then relay the message to Akashi’s aide, who assists him in dividing the work up between his miracles.”

“Do you know them? These… associates?”

Kuroko shook his head. “I never needed to know their names. So I never bothered to learn, and was never told.”

“What of his aide?”

“I knew her,” Kuroko nodded. “She… she’s an intelligence gatherer. Her data is unparalleled. She knows everything of everyone she needs to know, no matter how deep the information is buried.”

“I see,” Kagami sighed. “This is going to be blunt but… why are you here?”

Kuroko watched him for a long moment and Kagami got the feeling he was being evaluated down to his very soul.

“You already understand some of it, don’t you?”

“I know you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be. I… You’re haunted, like I am,” he added, flushing a little. “I… I don’t know what you want, but I think you think we can help you with it.”

Kuroko watched him carefully for a long, long moment.

“I want to take down the Generation of Miracles.”

\-----------

Kagami stared in shock for a long moment. “What?” he asked dumbly.

“I want to stop the Generation of Miracles. I want to prevent the murders they’re committing. I want to help them.”

“ _Help_ them?”

Kuroko’s eyes finally betrayed an emotion, and it struck Kagami to his core: helplessness.

“They’re not what they once were. They’ve lost sight of their humanity. I want them to regain it.”

Kagami sighed. “Are you sure this isn’t just wishful thinking on your part?”

Kuroko looked at his hands, wrapped around the water bottle. “Maybe it is,” he agreed quietly. “But I think they can be saved. I just want a chance. Just one.”

Kagami sighed. “You must really care for them,” he murmured, wondering what it was about these ‘miracles’ that had made a silent, expressionless guy like Kuroko come to openly care and wish for their safety. Kuroko said nothing in return, and they both sat in silence for a long couple of moments.

“Why did you renounce them, then?” Kagami asked. “Why sever all ties with them?”

Kuroko took a long moment to consider his wording. “I can no longer agree with Akashi-kun’s way of doing things. Admittedly my profession doesn’t allow for much kindness, but Akashi-kun has recently become very much crueller recently… I want to save the others from doing things they would regret.”

Kuroko fell silent and Kagami said nothing, letting the other male sort through his own thoughts.

“I have one question,” Kuroko murmured. “Do you think your team would agree to cooperate with me?”

Kagami leant back in the chair, fiddling with the cap of his water. “It would depend on your terms.”

“I’d want to leave here. With you, or a member of your team, of course. But if we did what I am going to suggest, I can’t sit on the side lines and leave you without backup.” Kuroko said it plainly. “I am aware this is a lot to ask, especially since I am a criminal that’s proven myself capable of murder, but it would be quite important to me.”

Kagami frowned. “Other requests?”

“That is all for now,” Kuroko murmured. “I know you need to talk this over with Riko-san and the rest of your team. If you decline, I… I’ll take whatever punishment I deserve,” he said definitely, raising his head. “I am aware I’m not a good person, by anyone’s standards, and I deserve any punishment handed out to me. But I would like to stop my old friends from making mistakes that they can’t come back from.”

Kagami judged Kuroko for a long moment, and the blue-eyed boy seemed to have finally let a couple of his guards down, for his eyes were wide and earnest and seemed to suck Kagami back in again.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he sighed. “And… for what it’s worth, I would like to help you.”

Blue searched red and Kuroko nodded, offering a tiny smile. “Thank you, Kagami-kun.”

“Right. Well, I’ll go and discuss it with them and get back to you,” Kagami got up with a sigh.

“You should probably take this with you,” Kuroko held out his bottle of water, though he’d only drunk a third of it so far. “I doubt I’m allowed anything in here.”

Kagami shrugged. “Keep it. I’m pretty sure you’re not gonna kill yourself with it at any rate.”

Kuroko nodded gratefully and retracted his hand.

“I’ll see you soon,” Kagami murmured as he opened the door, glancing back.

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko called after him quietly. He waited for a long moment. “Really… thank you.”

Kagami inclined his head and left the room. He wasn’t sure why he was so sure, but he believed Kuroko was telling the truth. Now all that was left was to persuade his team.

\-----------

 “We’ll agree to it on one condition,” Riko said without preamble as Kagami returned to her office. “He has to tell us everything he knows about the Generation of Miracles and his role with them.”

“Really?” Kagami asked, surprised. He’d thought it would have taken forever to persuade them.

Riko sighed. “This could all be a giant trap,” she admitted, “But I don’t see what he’d gain from leading us to them. And if it leads us to be able to dismantle the Generation of Miracles… the benefits outweigh the risks right now.”

Kagami nodded. “Alright. I can’t see that he’ll disagree.”

\-----------

Kuroko agreed to their terms, which is how he ended up back in the interview room, but this time with the entire team crowded in to listen to him speak.

“I was the second to last member to join the ‘Generation of Miracles’,” Kuroko started in a quiet, impassionate tone. “I was a petty thief at the time, barely getting by, when I caught the attention of one of the miracles when he was out on a job, Aomine-kun.” Everyone sucked in their breath at the mention of the ‘ace’ who was possibly the most skilled member of the miracles. Barely noting their reactions, Kuroko continued, “Unbeknownst to me, he continued to watch me and, when he was sure I could offer something to their team, he referred me to their leader, Akashi-kun.

“Which is how I joined. Being a starving, penniless boy at the time, I had very little other options. And Akashi-kun is extremely persuasive, he can almost make anyone do anything…” Kuroko trailed off, memories flashing in his head. He quickly subdued them, and continued on. “Aside from Aomine-kun and Akashi-kun, there were two other members, Murasakibara-kun and Midorima-kun.”

The team members nodded, aware of these names. Murasakibara was possibly the member with the least finesse on the team, and possibly the most brutal. No-one ever wanted to come up against the man who was rumoured to be a giant. And Midorima… his calling card was always left from a snipers position far away, his shots always perfectly accurate. It was rumoured that he’d never missed a shot, and had never wasted a bullet.

“A little after I joined, Kise-kun was also brought into the team.” Kise was known as the copycat, though no one was ever quite sure why. But he was rumoured to be able to beat anyone in a fight just by copying the moves they’d used against him, no matter how difficult they were.

“We worked together for a long while, as a team. Akashi-kun would lead us, while Midorima-kun provided far-cover. Murasakibara-kun covered our defence and escape, while I would disable the security systems and Aomine-kun and Kise-kun would do whatever needed to be done. We didn’t just murder in those days, but theft was a common crime of ours, as well as blackmail.

“But at one point everyone’s abilities developed and evolved until they were almost getting in each other’s way, everyone wanting to take the lead,” Kuroko’s voice didn’t change, but his eyes lowered with something like regret. “We started to do jobs separately, which is when the calling cards came in. A colour for each name. Yellow for Kise-kun, blue for Aomine-kun, green for Midorima-kun, purple for Murasakibara-kun and red for Akashi-kun. As I was the phantom, Akashi decided that I was to leave a black calling card, since no-one knew of my identity.

“Slowly, I started to distance myself, to take different jobs outside of Akashi’s influence where I was able to control more of the factors personally. Which is when I’d heard what Akashi had done. He’d turned the miracles against each other in order to extract their full potential. And, in doing so, had made murder a game.”

Kuroko hesitated, hands clasping in a show of some emotion.

“A game?” Kagami prompted him gently when everyone glanced to him.

“He’d bait them with ideas and challenges of things like who could kill the most people in a month, or who could kill the person worth the most money. Akashi-kun made the entire thing into a competition, and that’s how they stopped being a team. The murders increased, and the selection process became much less strict. Before, I’d tried to make sure that those who we murdered weren’t innocents, had black marks to their names. But… the other miracles have ended up not caring.”

“That’s… horrific,” Kiyoshi murmured, his hands gripping his elbows so hard his knuckles were white. “What gave them the right?”

Blue eyes met those of the tallest member of their team and Kiyoshi swallowed as he felt the ice emanating from the blue orbs.

“Nothing,” he replied quietly. “Nothing but their own abilities. But this is why I want to stop them. I can’t see them fall down, to see them kill innocents. I’ve checked, and none of them have so far. But it’s only a matter of time.”

Everyone was silent for a long moment.

“We’ll help you,” Riko said, sitting across from Kuroko. “But you can’t keep any secrets from us. Tell us everything, as soon as you know it.”

Kuroko nodded. “It is possible that a member or two may be sent to retrieve me,” he admitted quietly. “Kise-kun will likely volunteer. So, please, be prepared for that possibility.”

Everyone nodded in a silent agreement, and as such a partnership was born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there's the end of part one! ^.^
> 
> I've finallyyyy planned out the rest of the story, and there looks like (if everything goes to plan) that there'll be 5 parts (so 4 left) with 3 chapters each. I'm about 3 ahead at the moment, so if this keeps up I should be able to finish it by the time I go back to Uni, and can then update once a week, yay ^.^
> 
> I'll also be uploading the extra bits in 'to the 'light' side' here and there, whenever I get around to writing them ^.^ if anyone has some scenes that I've mentioned that they want in more detail, or anything at all really, just leave a comment and I'll see if I can do it ^.^
> 
> much loves <3


	5. Part Two: the copycat: Chapter Four

Over the course of the next month, plans were put into action to help Kuroko and the team work together to take down the Generation of Miracles.

Kuroko’s shoulder fully healed, or at least to the point where no-one could tell if it still hurt him to move it. He was fitted with a tracker and then allowed to leave his cell. He hadn’t pushed anything, had been extremely careful with the limits he’d been assigned and never even came close to breaching them. He returned to his cell every night, waiting for someone to come and fetch him in the morning without complaint.

During the day he stuck close to Kagami, as ordered, and mostly helped him with his desk work and trails, trying to work out the network of people who had been killed that were obviously Akashi’s doing, but they never seemed to get that far. It was seemingly hopeless and Kagami was starting to get frustrated.

“Are you even really trying?” he ended up snapping one day when yet another trail led to a dead end.

Blue eyes stared at his blankly.

“Do you really want to catch these guys? Or are you just stalling? What, exactly, are you helping me with here?”

Kagami watched the blue eyes shutter slowly even as Kuroko’s blank expression remaining perfectly impassive. But Kagami noticed how his hand tightened into a fist under the table, how his shoulders were set a little stiffer.

“There is not a lot I can do in terms of this sort of desk work,” Kuroko replied quietly.

“Well what the fuck _can_ you do? Honestly, for all that you’re the phantom, you’re kind of useless here.”

Kuroko’s eyes flashed to his and Kagami was both surprised and triumphant to see actual emotion glare out at him. “I wouldn’t be useless if-,” he cut himself off, turning away from him sharply. “Never mind. I’ll go over the trail again.”

Kagami slammed a hand down on his side of the desk, bringing Kuroko’s attention back to him. “You wouldn’t be useless if?” he repeated.

Kuroko sighed and glanced at him. “No-one would agree,” he murmured, too quiet for the others to hear. They’d all turned to the conflict in confusion and a little interest.

“You could still ask,” Kagami murmured. “You’re part of the team for now.”

Kuroko’s eyes shuttered blank again and Kagami wondered what nerve he’d hit.

“Hacking is one of my specialities,” he admitted reluctantly. “My skills with electronics is one of the reasons Akashi hired me. I can find anything you need on a computer, so long as it is somewhere in someone’s databanks.”

Kagami’s eyes narrowed. “That’s illegal,” he said pointedly.

“Exactly why no-one would agree,” Kuroko nodded, and returned to his trail.

Kagami sighed and sat back, the rest of the day passing in silence.

Kuroko was just about to be returned to his room for the night, when Riko marched into the office, the leader of another special team, Kasamatsu, following her.

“Listen up!” she called into the silence. Everyone was immediately alert.

“Kasamatsu here has found trails as to Hanamiya’s whereabouts.”

The room fell deathly silent. Kagami glanced at Kuroko, who was now just watching Riko with what Kagami assumed was interest glimmering in blue orbs.

“We’re teaming up. The two of us. Seirin and Kaijo are going to take down Kirisaki Dai Ichi.”

\-----------

Kirisaki Dai Ichi was possibly one of the most well-known crime syndicates in the area. While not as successful as the Generation of Miracles, they were almost as reputable. However, unlike the Miracle's reputation which left them on the fence between good and bad, Kirisaki Dai Ichi’s reputation came from their brutality, the sheer coldness and insanity that came from their crimes. To date, through pure blackmail, extortion and murder, they’d never been caught, despite a great number of task forces being assigned to the job, every one of which had ended in failure and a great number of casualties. Eventually, someone had realised that the needless loss of life just wasn’t worth it and cancelled any active movement against the syndicate, and only the deepest of undercover operations had remained quietly active.

It took another nerve-wracking, work-intensive two weeks until they’d finally pinpointed Hanamiya’s location, current movements and future plans, had a list of his crimes and were reasonably sure they had a plan capable of taking him down.

The only thing they had to discuss was whether or not to include Kuroko in the takedown. Seirin’s team, while not yet putting full trust of Kuroko’s capabilities into him despite having allowed him on a few jobs beforehand, were willing to take him along as Kagami’s partner. Kaijo were much less trusting, insisting on demonstrative proof that Kuroko wouldn’t turn against them during their operation and blow the entire thing.

Which, of course, was impossible. It was only when Kuroko had a meeting with both captains and ‘coaches’ of each team that it was finally approved. Kagami had no idea what he’d said to make a hard-ass like Kasamatsu change his mind, but he couldn’t say it was a bad thing.

And that was how, two weeks later, they’d set up their trap.

Kagami and Kuroko were waiting on the top floor of an abandoned office building, communicators in their ears while Furihata and the others provided information from a ‘broken down’ van around the corner. Riko and Hyuga were mobilising the other teams a building or two over, ready to come and provide back up at any point.

However, it had been pretty much decided that Hanamiya would separate from his team to find Kiyoshi. The two had old, old history and a hell of a lot of unfinished business to settle. Kiyoshi didn’t really care anymore, but he’d insisted on staying alone and waiting for Hanamiya a few floors down from Kagami and Kuroko, confident in his ability to protect his team.

“Are you ready for this?” Kagami murmured quietly to Kuroko. He’d only been allowed a taser, no-one was yet willing to trust him with a gun for fear of him making a run for it, though he’d proved that he probably wouldn’t even if he had the chance during his first job for them. And Kagami, having been watching Kuroko carefully for the last two months, believed that the smaller male was going to stick it out, that his words were the truth. Even if he had left some things out, he answered their most important questions. He’d provided information where needed, having figured out a way to get what he wanted through more legal means, and had slowly increased his usefulness to the team until no-one could say they didn’t have a use for him anymore.

“I am,” Kuroko replied, voice steady. “Though I’ve heard of Hanamiya’s reputation. It isn’t a positive one.”

“He’s the kind of guy who needs to be taken down,” Kagami agreed.

Kuroko nodded, sitting perfectly still. Kagami wanted to move, itched to pace, but had to stay still for fear of detection.

“How are you going to stop the miracles?” Kagami asked, bringing his knees to his chest carefully and watching the boy sitting opposite him. “It’s going to be difficult.”

Kuroko sighed. “Kise will come first,” he murmured. “That much I’m sure of. The blond’s calling card has stopped appearing so often. He’s probably still looking for me.”

“Well, not really,” another voice broke into their conversation. Kagami jumped up, finger on the trigger of his gun and aiming at the figure standing in front of the window. “It looks like I’ve already found you.”

There was silence for a long moment before the figure stepped forward into a sliver of light. It illuminated golden locks, a lean, tight figure dressed in combat gear and golden eyes glowed in the dark. As the newcomer sighed, the light winked off a small silver piercing in his ear.

“Kurokocchi, it’s been a while. Could you tell your, um, _friend_ , to put his gun down, please? I’m not here for either of you.”

“Kise-kun,” Kuroko sighed, still not moving, and Kagami stared in disbelief. But at Kuroko’s nod he lowered his gun, though left the safety off. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been told to take out Hanamiya,” the blond replied with a boyish grin. “Akashi’s orders.”

“He knew I was also on this case,” Kuroko sighed, and Kise’s lack of reply confirmed his suspicion. “Why now?”

“I had some questions,” Kise replied petulantly. “What are you _doing_ , Kurokocchi? I want to know why you involved yourself in this bit-rate team. I can’t believe the rumours are actually true! You _let_ yourself be caught?” Kise exclaimed in a low voice, spreading his hands out as if to reach for his ex-teammate. “What are you _doing,_ seriously? They’re no match for us in terms of skill or ability. Why are you going to let your talents be wasted this way? Especially when you know you could come back. Akashi might be pissed off, but he’d take you back in a heartbeat. All of us would.”

Kuroko met gold eyes levelly. “Kise-kun. I’m going to take you down, take the rest of the miracles down, with this team.”

Kise stared for a long second in shock, then let out a disbelieving chuckle. “Kurokocchi, I respect you, respect your talent, but this really isn’t like you. What’s wrong?”

“It’s just like he said,” Kagami broke into the conversation. He’d been listening in dumb silence for the last couple of minutes, silently disbelieving that this blond show-off was actually a member of the Generation of Miracles. “We’re going to take you all down.”

“Kurokocchi,” Kise sighed. “Who is this?”

“This is Kagami-kun,” Kuroko replied tonelessly. “My new partner.”

At that, Kise’s eyes narrowed at Kagami, who stared back unflinching. “I suppose you won’t mind me testing him out, then,” Kise murmured, his voice suddenly silky smooth and deadly.

“I would rather you wait until we’ve completed this investigation,” Kuroko replied tiredly. “Kise-kun. Please accept this. I’m honoured that you would want me back, but I can’t. I can’t abide by what we do anymore. The mindless killing isn’t what we were built for.”

Kise sighed. “That’s why we’re not mindlessly killing.”

“Kise-kun,” Kuroko reproached. “It’s nothing but a game to you all.”

“And I lose, every time,” Kise snapped back. “It’s not like I _want_ to fucking play, alright?”

Kuroko’s eyes widened, apparently shocked. Kise snapped back into his usual demeanour with a smile and laugh. “Ah, well, never mind,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You’ll find Hanamiya’s already woven his web. He’s got a hard-on for someone in your team, and doesn’t care so long as he takes him down.”

“Kiyoshi,” Kagami murmured, having heard the stories of his team member’s run-ins with Hanamiya before.

Kuroko sighed. “Kise-kun. Will you do me a last favour?”

Kise stared at Kuroko for a long moment. “Ask me first. Maybe I’ll agree.”

“Would you consider quitting?”

Kise sighed, and looked like he was considering it. But just as he’d opened his mouth to reply, voices sounded through the intercom.

 _“Kagami, Kuroko, get your butts down there. Provide Kiyoshi with cover. Hanamiya is in the building. I repeat, Hanamiya is in the building,”_ Izuki’s crackly voice came through the ear pieces.

“Ah, my time to go,” Kise said with a grin, and disappeared as fast as he’d appeared.

“Come on,” Kuroko murmured, breaking out into a dead run and leaving Kagami to follow, totally confused as to what the blond miracle had been doing.

Kagami swore as he reached the level Kiyoshi was on and Kuroko was nowhere to be found. Goddamn it! Hearing Furihata murmur in his ear that Hanamiya was also expected to be on that floor by now, he had no time to look for the bloody shadow, and headed as quietly and quickly as he could to Kiyoshi’s location.

He was too late. Hanamiya was already cornering Kiyoshi in the room, a gun trained on his old teammate.

“So, Kiyoshi, any last words?”

Kiyoshi’s eyes flickered to Kagami in the doorway for less than a milisecond, but before Kagami could do anything another gun was directed his way as Hanamiya slowly turned his head and smiled. It was the most terrifying smile Kagami had ever seen and he had to swallow slowly as his mouth went dry in fear.

“Unless,” Hanamiya started slowly, sweetly, in a voice that didn’t suit him at all, “You drop your gun, both you and Kiyoshi will die in a matter of seconds.”

Kagami flicked the safety back on his handgun and placed it on the floor, kicking it over to the black-haired male, who laughed quietly.

“All according to plan,” he murmured to himself, and Kagami found his stomach knotting. They were in a trap?

“Kiyoshi, I still don’t understand why you chose to let yourself become trash like everyone else,” Hanamiya continued as if Kagami wasn’t even in the room. He prayed with every fibre of his being that Kuroko was safe, that the smaller boy would stay out of this and out of trouble. “You had something special.”

Kiyoshi sighed, staring down his old team-mate. “You fell too far, Hanamiya,” he said softly, his voice nothing but compassionate. “I protected what we had in everything in me, and will continue to do that for as long as I can.”

Hanamiya’s face twisted and before Kagami could even blink, a gunshot rang out and Kiyoshi was on the floor.

“Kiyoshi!” his voice broke out on a shout and he stepped forward, but a gun barrel pressed into his sternum stopped him.

“Unless you want to die with a gut shot, I suggest you stay right where you are,” the silky voice continued, and Kagami watched with some relief as Kiyoshi rolled over, gasping in pain. He’d been shot just below the knee, a messy, fucking _painful_ shot and Kagami felt rage boil over.

He opened his mouth, but the gun was shoved further against his chest, winding him.

“Ah-ah,” Hanamiya shook his head. “Silence, please.”

Kagami shut his mouth and just stared helplessly. Damn it. What could he do? What the fuck was wrong with him? Why was he just standing here? Why couldn’t he _do_ something?

It was barely twenty seconds of quiet later, the only sounds Kiyoshi’s quiet gasps of pain, when Hanamiya staggered back from Kagami, staring in disbelief at the knife handles protruding from his shoulders.

“What the-?”


	6. Chapter Five

Kagami turned to the doorway, to see Kise standing there with a grin. And then the next thing he knew, Hanamiya was on the floor and Kuroko next to him, holding the man’s guns and crouching next to the man’s face.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Kuroko murmured, voice quiet of life. Kagami felt his blood run cold. “You’re very lucky Kise-kun is an expert in knife work. A centimetre either way and you’d be unable to use your arms again.”

“You _fucking_ bas- bastard!” Hanamiya spat out, gaze practically able to kill.

“If you say so,” Kuroko agreed pleasantly, and that sent even more chills down Kagami’s spine. “But I’m afraid it’s the end for you, and your team. They’re all in Kaijo’s or Seirin’s custody as of now.”

The hate in Hanamiya’s gaze was not the hate of a sane man. Kagami could do nothing but stare, feeling almost as if he was going into shock. That was, until blue eyes met his.

“Kagami-kun,” the soft voice broke him out of his thoughts. “Could you please attend to Kiyoshi-senpai?”

He nodded dumbly, calling in quietly to report as he made his way over to his teammate. He ripped off his sleeve and made a rough tourniquet from it, tight above the knee.

“Kagami,” Kiyoshi murmured, hand clenching on the other boy’s wrist. “Sorry.”

Kagami shook his head. “It was out of either of our control. We should just be glad Kuroko came in when he did.”

“Ah,” Kiyoshi agreed with a nod. “Tell him thanks. When he’s done with that other miracle.”

Kagami nodded, glancing back where Kise was effectively restraining Hanamiya, who’d gone eerily quiet. Kuroko was standing over him, watching carefully. As if Kuroko felt his gaze, their eyes met and Kagami offered him a quiet nod.

After a second, Kuroko inclined his head back in acceptance and headed to the door, where the first response teams were finally arriving.

It all seemed very anti-climactic, in the end. Kuroko had somehow persuaded Kise to hang around until the end of clean-up, so he just sat in an adjacent room and played with his knives. Kiyoshi was whisked off to a private hospital as soon as the ambulance arrived, and a van came to take Hanamiya away to a maximum-security prison.

“Good job, guys,” Riko murmured as both Kaijo and Seirin all gathered in the room at the end of the day. “Go home, get some rest. We did it. And we have revenge for Kiyoshi, too,” she added, her hands on her hips. “I’ll see you all tomorrow for debriefing.”

Kasamatsu and Riko waited as all of the team members except Kagami and Kuroko left the building.

“Kuroko, you acted independently of our orders,” Riko started sternly. The blue eyed gaze stared back, seemingly indifferent, but even Riko could now see the tension in his shoulders. “But you saved the mission, and the team, by doing it. So thank you.”

The blue haired boy’s eyes widened for a long second, before nodding. “I… I have another request,” he asked softly.

Riko gestured for him to go on. He hesitated, before ploughing on.

“Kise-kun… I think I can bring him around. He wouldn’t work with me, not now, not on this team. But… if Kaijo is willing, and Kise agrees… would they take him in?”

Riko’s eyes widened. Kasamatsu scoffed. “Is he really that useful?”

“He’s a miracle,” Kuroko said quietly.

 “The worst of the bunch,” Kise piped up unexpectedly from the doorway, bright and cheery. “I could never surpass the rest of you.”

“Kise-kun,” wide blue eyes stared at stunning gold.

“Kurokocchi,” the man who could have been a model sighed back. “Why?”

“Please,” was all that the quiet boy answered.

“Maybe,” the blond turned around. “I’ll talk to you later.”

And before the others could make a move, the blond boy had made his way out of the building and was out of sight.

\-----------

For the next week the office was a hive of activity as Seirin and Kaijo team members worked together to finish gathering all evidence they needed to convict Hanamiya. Kiyoshi was in the hospital recovering, and was still sedated since the damage to his knee had been severe. But the doctors were insisting that with plenty of rest, and no over-active work for a year, if Kiyoshi took it extremely carefully, there would be very little damage, which had relieved the team to no end.

Kuroko hadn’t heard from Kise again, but was aware of the blond’s presence sometimes, just watching him. He liked to think he was sure that Kise was also aware of what Akashi had done, of what the miracles were becoming, and wanted to change it too. But he was also aware that he didn’t know Kise’s own thoughts, and could only do his very best to persuade him.

It was highly likely that even if Kuroko did persuade him over to this side, Aomine would pull him right back, depending on the ace’s stance in the matter. Kise had long since admired the ace, and Kuroko knew that Kise held feelings for the other male that he wasn’t sure were returned. So, all in all, he had to hope that Aomine didn’t try to pull Kise back, else he’d lose the blond for good.

Kuroko also wasn’t sure what it was, but within Seirin, something in the atmosphere whenever he was around had changed. Smiles and laughs were exchanged more often, and although his conscious put it down to them just not sensing his presence very much and therefore forgetting he was there, part of him knew it was something else. He just wasn’t sure _what_.

So, realising that he didn’t object to the change in atmosphere, and actually kind of liked it, he continued on in his usual routine. He was led back to his cell every night, but the food got better and fresh clothes were bought for him on a daily basis, as opposed to the original prison uniform. He didn’t mind the arrangements, he’d lived in much worse for much longer.

The only thing that was bugging him was Kagami. The tall redhead was on his thoughts much more often than he’d like, and even his usual tricks to clear his head failed after a minute or so. The male just had so much… _presence_ , it was hard not to notice him. Especially when he was so often focused on Kuroko, being essentially his keeper. Kagami would always to check he was satisfied with his food, ask him if he needed anything else. Which Kuroko had never really had before. Although Akashi, when he’d first taken him in, had provided everything Kuroko had needed, it had always been on the ‘emperor’s’ terms. To actually be asked what he wanted, to be taken care of, even if in a restricted environment, was more than Kuroko had experienced before.

So he found himself at somewhat of a loss, and constantly rejecting the offers. He’d deduced that none of them were a trap, that all suggestions were genuine, but he was still wary of the unknown.

And, for a reason unknown even to the redhead himself, it was really starting to piss Kagami off. Because, sure, the guy was a criminal. But he’d helped lock away other criminals, was continuing to help. He’d left his life of crime to go against everything he knew and fight it instead. So even though he’d helped, even though it was the logical and careful course of action, he couldn’t help but become angry every time Kuroko was made to return to his cell like a fucking dog, and then return only to help them when he was deemed useful. When he accepted the conditions and allowed himself to be treated like a lower being when he was just a bloody human like the rest of them. He just wasn’t sure how he could change it without changing the dynamics of the entire team for the worse.

\-----------

But, despite keeping it in for as long as possible, Kagami finally snapped the day Hanamiya was convicted guilty, and sentenced to a lifetime in a maximum-security prison.

“Coach,” he pulled Riko aside as the rest of the team celebrated. Kuroko sat in the corner, watching the festivities with an unconsciously wistful expression on his face. “I want to take Kuroko back to mine.”

“What?” Riko choked on her wine. “Bakagami…”

“No!” he flushed as he realised how she’d taken his orders. “Christ! Not like _that_! I just… he’s helped so much. And we’ve treated him alright, for a prisoner. But he just _takes_ it. I can’t stand it. God knows what’ll happen if- _when_ we get the miracles, but the ending probably won’t be all that great for him, all things considered. So I just… I want to give him a slice of normal life. Well, as normal as he’s ever gonna get.”

Riko’s eyes softened, staring up at the redhead. “You’re too nice for your own good,” she sighed, shaking her head. “But! Because I’m in a good mood, and he does really look quite lonely sitting there all by himself… I’ll approve your request. But he’s not to go out anywhere without you, you’ll have to be on your guard 24/7. And I still want to tap his room, make sure he doesn’t get in touch with any of his miracle friends without warning us.”

“Understood,” Kagami nodded in agreement. “I’ll see if he agrees first, and if so, take him back tonight.”

“Alright,” Riko agreed. “But no funny business, you hear me?” she called after him with a grin.

Kagami just shook his head at her and turned back to Kuroko. Most of the guys on the team knew he was bi, swung either way. He’d only had a few relationships though, the general percentage with men. He just found it _easier_. But he could be honest with himself when he realised he hadn’t thought about Kuroko in that way yet. Admittedly, it was mostly because Kuroko was a prisoner, and a criminal, and Kagami hadn’t let himself get too close.

Waiting for a minute as the guys all cheered, he ran his eyes over the slim body sat in the corner. He couldn’t deny that Kuroko was hot, in a small, skinny kind of way. The blue eyes sucked you in, made you feel as if you could hold the key to a thousand secrets. And he had the kind of body that made you want to protect him, even as you wanted to watch him fall to a million pieces below you, crying your name.

Kagami had to shake himself, feeling uncomfortable. Where had _that_ come from? He’d never had thoughts or urges that strong before, especially not towards a guy he barely knew, and had little of intention of getting too much closer to. Because while Kuroko was clearly regretting his past, wanting to make amends, there were some things people could never come back from, no matter how hard they tried.

\-----------

The party ended in time for last train and everyone went home, exhausted but exhilarated. They’d finally caught and kept one of the people most wanted in the country. It was no small feat, and everyone was proud of themselves and the work they’d done.

Kagami had escorted a quiet Kuroko back to his cell, watching as he headed for the sink.

“Kuroko?” he asked hesitantly, watching the blue-haired boy.

“Yes, Kagami-kun?” Kuroko responded, turning on the tap to fill a paper cup with water.

“I… I was talking to Riko today,” he started, fiddling a little with the chain around his neck. “And we thought it’s time you moved out of this cell.”

Kuroko turned off the tap and turned to Kagami, confused.

“Have I done something wrong?”

“No!” Kagami shook his head emphatically. “Of course not. It’s the opposite, actually. You’ve got your tracker, and you’ve made way in gaining the team’s trust. And I… I have a spare room in my apartment, and was wondering if you wanted to move there for a while. It’s not much, but it’d give you more freedom than this would, anyway. And better meals,” he offered with a wry grin. “I’m not good at much outside my job, but cooking is one of my talents.”

Kuroko felt the Earth shift looking at that smile. It was possibly the first genuine, quiet smile he’d ever seen from Kagami and for some reason it made his heart stop in his chest. Which he didn’t get. He’d seen the other boy smile plenty of times, with adrenaline running through his veins or when someone in the office made a joke. So what was different this time?

He shook it off, focusing on the question. “I… I would appreciate it,” he agreed, even as he wondered what was going on his stomach as it exploded into flutters. Kagami was just so… _good_. “If it isn’t going to cause a problem at all for you?”

“Of course not,” Kagami waved his hands. “I wouldn’t offer otherwise,” he added with a gentle, reassuring smile. “So… do you want to come back tonight?”

Kuroko stared at the white walls of his cell, at the tiny neat bed he’d slept for so long on.

“I wouldn’t say no,” he accepted again, and Kagami grinned in relief.

“Awesome,” he sighed. “Well, we can go whenever. I brought my car today, so…”

Kuroko nodded, and together they headed back to Kagami’s apartment with few other words between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh. I moved back to uni this week and I'm so tireddddddd. but I finally finished the basic storyline! now all that's left is to fill it out and edit it some, so definite updates once a week from here on out!  
> it also looks like there'll be around 16 chapters overall (17 including the prologue - I think) so we're over 1/4 of the way done!   
> thanks to those that have subscribed already, and everyone who left kudos! it makes me ridiculously happy <3


	7. Chapter Six

Kise watched through his sniper scope as Kuroko followed his new ‘partner’ out of the office building where his new team was based. What on earth was Kurokocchi _doing_? Socialising- no, _cooperating_ with _law enforcement?_ After all that the phantom had done for the Generation of Miracles, after how hard he’d worked to keep up with them…

_Would Kaijo take him in?_ Kise scoffed. He didn’t need to be taken in. He was fine on his own, as the lowliest member of the Generation of Miracles. But Kuroko’s earnest voice wouldn’t stop echoing in his ear and he had the worst feeling that he was already done for.

He watched as Kagami showed his former teammate to a simple, serviceable car, but one Kise knew had a lot of power behind the wheel. It spoke volumes about the type of person Kuroko had chosen to align himself with. So did the fact that, somehow, Kagami had got Kuroko out of his cell and was giving him somewhere else to stay. Kise didn’t understand why Kagami would bother, if he was honest.

All he could allow himself to think, to believe, was that Kurokocchi was making a hell of a big mistake. But then his heart cracked. Because Kagami had said something, and Kuroko had _smiled_.

It had been tiny, lasting only a fleeting, minuscule second, so fast Kise would have thought he’d imagined it. But, watching Kurokocchi more closely as he climbed into the car with no hesitation, he saw the lack of tension in the other’s shoulders. How long had it been? How long since he’d seen Kurokocchi smile?

The phantom had always been the most exhilarated, alongside Aominecchi, member of the team whenever they’d pulled off a job. Especially in their early days. So when had that started to disappear? When had Kurokocchi faded so far back from them that Kise hadn’t realised the extent of the other’s unhappiness?

He knew Aominecchi was probably a huge part of it. Despite Kurokocchi being able to work with anyone on the team, he’d always worked the smoothest with their ace. And Aominecchi’s loss of challenge, his loss of tight spaces and worrying close-calls, had started to take their toll until the ace was completing risky jobs by himself, almost getting himself caught just for the thrill of it. Kurokocchi had practically been abandoned, though he’d never shown that he was bothered by it. And everyone had been worried, until Akashicchi had come up with his stupid, _stupid,_ oh so _clever_ game. He knew exactly how to play everyone.

Kise hadn’t realised until Kuroko had left. He still didn’t fully understand the other’s reasons, especially as to why he’d defected completely to the other side. And bringing the miracles down? It seemed impossible for Kise even to think of imagining, let alone fathom it actually coming true. Akashi was just too powerful.

Yet Kurokocchi was still alive, still safe, even after he’d defected. And Akashicchi, and the rest of the team, had known that Kise was also thinking of scaling back soon.

But to defect… to join someone else? Kise wasn’t sure he could do it.

Especially not if it meant to abandon Aominecchi. No-one, aside from perhaps Kurokocchi and Akashicchi, knew quite how deep his feelings ran for their stubborn ace. Aominecchi, asides from his job, was possibly the only thing in the world Kise considered worth devoting all of his time and effort to. But having been deflected here and there, in subtle ways that Aominecchi himself probably never even noticed, he’d given up on his dream and just been content to stay around the miracle and soak in his presence.

Kise shook of those thoughts and pulled up Kagami’s address in his head, packing up his sniper gear and heading for the apartment his friend was now probably almost at.

\-----------

Kise found a decent spot that allowed him to look through the large glass doors leading out onto Kagami’s balcony. If you asked him, it was a stupid set up. Any sniper could make a hit through those windows.

But he didn’t even bother setting up his rifle, knowing somewhere in his heart he wasn’t going to use it. What was the point? Kurokocchi had made it clear he wasn’t going to come back.

So instead he just observed through his scope as Kuroko was sat on the couch and food brought to him. Who’d have guessed that the redheaded giant was secretly a housewife? Kise snorted to himself, even as his stomach rumbled and reminded him he’d skipped lunch to help Kurokocchi out.

Shuffling about, he pulled out his emergency energy bar from his boots and took a bite, wishing for something more appetising like whatever Kuroko was eating. From the way the usually careful eater was devouring his food, it had to be something delicious. Either that or prison food was just that bad.

They stayed up for barely an hour, both clearly on their last legs. Kagami was the first to get up, but Kuroko followed him quickly. Kise saw two lights flick on and was somewhat relieved. At least Kuroko had his own room. He’d never particularly liked sleeping with others, evidenced by more than one night where the GoM had been forced to share a room whilst on a job and Kuroko just hadn’t slept.

After a reasonable amount of time, the lights went off and Kise assumed they’d both gone to bed. Rolling over, he stared at the cloudy sky and finished his energy bar, wondering if Kuroko really did prefer this new life he’d chosen.

\-----------

Kuroko, curled up in a warm bed that smelt of washing powder, was quietly thanking the gods that things had turned out even better than he’d expected. Even though he wasn’t quite prepared for the reaction that living with Kagami was going to cause.

He’d known for a long while that he was gay. He’d never acted upon it, mostly because people in his line of work didn’t have time for a social life, not that Kuroko would have wanted to drag anyone into it. Aomine-kun had offered, once, when they were both stressed and needed a release, but knowing of Kise-kun’s feelings for the ace and knowing Kuroko would only be using Aomine to forget his own problems had made him feel guilty before he’d even accepted, and he’d had to turn the offer down.

And since then, he’d never really had the urge. He’d never had anyone close enough to him for him to be willing to give his body up to anyway. Plus, what guy wanted a twenty-year old virgin? Kagami was gorgeous, he’d had to have had sex more than once in his own twenty-two years of life. And Kuroko was willing to bet he wasn’t even gay.

He sighed, rolling over in bed and staring at the ceiling, forcing the thoughts of Kagami and the other boy’s delectable body out of his head. He was here for a job. Kagami had only even offered to take him in because he was too nice. It wasn’t because he had an interest in Kuroko. It couldn’t be.

He wondered where Kise was. He knew the blond had been watching him, had felt the eyes on him earlier, but wasn’t sure what the blond was thinking. He silently sent a quick prayer up that the blond would see the advantages to what Kuroko was doing, would side with him over the rest of the team, as selfish as that sounded. He just wanted to save the happy-go-lucky team member from losing everything that made him so pure and golden.

\-----------

Kise had been following Kuroko for a week now, and was convinced. Kurokocchi was happier here. He wasn’t sure how the team, how Seirin, had done it, but they’d taken some of the burden off the Phantom’s shoulders and given him a reason to be less strict on himself.

Kagami, Kise was sure, was a huge part of that. It showed whenever Kuroko relaxed further in Kagami’s home, when he started washing up because Kagami cooked. It was so _domestic_ , Kise was almost sick of watching them. But even as he told himself he’d stop, he couldn’t help but watch more in envy. Because _that_ was what he wanted. Someone who understood the burdens of his job, who understood him, understood how he thought, and accepted and loved him for it anyway.

He sighed. Why was he such a fucking romantic? And why, in that case, had he fallen for _Aominecchi_ , of all people, possibly the most unromantic person on the planet?

But as he realised Kuroko’s happiness, he started wondering if he could create his own. So slowly, day by day, his attention started to switch to that of the team Kuroko had mentioned: Kaijo.

Kaijo’s captain was a hardass for sure, Kise mused as he watched him force his team through relentless drills on their day in the gym. But he was fair, he sighed, watching the captain join in and sweat just as much as the rest. He gave no inches when he came to his team, but that was doubly true when it was aimed at himself. This man, Kise thought, could probably actually keep him in line.

So he started to follow Kasamatsu, wondering whether the man was like that in all aspects of his daily life. And he wasn’t surprised when the team leader’s behaviour was consistent. But before he could put his trust in a man who was albeit rigorous and had to be good at his job if he was captain of a special forces squad, Kise had to know if he’d match up to his standards.

So the blond slowly started to get closer and closer, tailing him in his most inconspicuous fashion. There were a few times Kise was impressed, where Kasamatsu had made it clear that he knew someone was following him, and Kise had backed off.

But one day, Kasamatsu finally lost his patience. So, making clear he knew he was being followed, he headed into a small alleyway.

“What do you want?” he demanded as Kise dropped from a fire escape just in front of him.

“To negotiate,” Kise replied, tugging off his hat and letting his blond hair show the man who he was dealing with. To his surprise, Kasamatsu didn’t let his emotions show through, other than the briefest flash of surprise.

“Kise,” Kasamatsu folded his arms. “Threats?”

Kise looked away, tucking his hands into his pockets. “No,” he murmured. “I was wondering if I could offer my services to your team.”

Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes, lips flattening. “Why now?”

Kise sighed, glancing up at the sky. Clouds were forming overhead and he wondered if it was a warning of what was to come. “Because Kurokocchi was right,” he admitted. “I’m tired, too. Tired of Akashi’s games. Tired of being a miracle. I was never all that good to begin with. I could never catch up to their standards.”

“You realise you’re a criminal?”

Kise’s eyes turned flat and Kasamatsu barely prevented a shiver as he felt the threat suddenly emanating from the man standing in front of him, as if a switch had been flicked. “Of course,” Kise replied, tone dead. “But I’m not quite like Kurokocchi. I won’t go willingly to jail. I’m willing to help you out for my teammate, but I won’t go to jail for him. You’ll either use me, or you won’t. It’s your decision.”

Kasmatsu rocked back on his heels, thinking hard. “You’ll have to go through training. It’ll take a month.”

“I’ll pass it all in four days,” Kise replied flatly.

Kasamatsu stared for a second, then laughed. “I have the feeling that you just might,” he acknowledged. “You’ll need to win over the team’s trust. We work as a team. Supporting one another. Individual skills are important, and if you need support we’ll be one hundred percent behind you. But you need to put your all behind us, too. Can you do that?”

Kise thought back to the better Generation days, where they all supported each other in everything they did.

“I’d like to try,” he agreed. “But I haven’t been on a cooperative team for a long, long time.”

Kasamatsu nodded. “Granted. Well, then,” he sighed, and punched Kise lightly in the arm. “I’ll take you back to base, and we’ll get the ball rolling.”

Kise was surprised it had been so easy. There were obviously a few stipulations as yet unmentioned, which he found out when they placed an ankle bracelet on him during his medical that would provide them with a way to track him. And although he could use a gun and knife and any other weapon they tossed his way better than most of the team, he was only to be allowed a Taser for the first few missions. But the team, after a few days, had accepted him to an extent and they’d all somehow fallen into an easy enough routine.

And when he’d actually become somewhat content, he could admit that the limitations placed on him were acceptable enough. Kurokocchi had come to find him during his initiation, and the relief and faint happiness in the blue eyes had gone a long way to reassure Kise that he’d made a good choice.

He’d also sent a message to Akashi, and received a simple reply of ‘understood’ through Kasamatsu, who’d received the letter in his mail and had been a little spooked by it, if all truth be told.

So all that was left was Aominecchi. Kise had debated on this for a long time, but eventually figured that Akashicchi would tell the rest of the miracles at the bi-monthly meeting which was due to happen in a week or so.

Aomine would find out then, and Kise would see if he ever actually meant a thing to the ace. Or, if, as he’d long suspected, he was just more competition in the entire game Akashi orchestrated.

But for now, he was content continuing to persuade his new team that he was worth their time, having been convinced by observing them that they were worth his. And he only hoped that this would continue without too many hitches. He really, really hoped so.


	8. Part Three: the ace - Chapter Seven

It had been six weeks since Kise had joined Kaijo, since he’d received acceptance from Akashi for his defection. And he could barely believe how _happy_ he was. He’d passed the training, as promised, in four days, but it had been unexpectedly hard work. But he was keeping up with the training, doing extra with Kasamatsu after general hours, and had helped to take down his fair share of the bad guys.

Kurokocchi came to see him around once a week, and Kise was relieved to see that the shadow was continuing to be happy with his new place in the world. Seirin and Kaijo had also had a few joint practises, where Kise had had the chance to go one-on-one with Kagami in combat. He’d solidly and easily beaten the redhead the first time around, but the other male had quickly learnt until he was becoming a decent opponent. Kise had to admit, he could respect the redhead. But that was to be expected of Kuroko’s partner, for him to shine bright so he could enhance Kuroko’s own skills.

They worked well together. Kise had been able to watch as they trained, as Kuroko revolved his own skills around Kagami’s until they were working in tandem like a well-oiled machine. With a little more time, Kise believed they could almost become an unstoppable team.

But Kise could also feel some unresolved tension between the two. Kagami seemed oblivious to it, as he was to a lot of things outside of his job, but Kurokocchi…

And it was for that reason that Kise had managed to persuade both his team and Kagami and Kuroko that they should let him go to the pair’s apartment for dinner with them, despite mild protests from Kagami that he was just happily inviting himself over without permission.

\-----------

Kuroko sighed as Kise let himself into Kagami’s apartment with a cheery hello and sat himself down on the sofa.

“Hello, Kise-kun,” he greeted his old teammate, bringing through a cup of coffee for the blond.

“Hey, Kurokocchi,” the blond replied, accepting the mug with a bright thanks. “Where’s Kagamicchi?”

Kuroko raised an eyebrow. Kise only ever referred to someone he respected with ‘ _cchi_ ’ added to their name, and that Kise had decided he respected Kagami was something Kuroko hadn’t expected. But, then again, with their constant matches during joint-team practises and Kagami’s rapid improvement, he could see why Kise had come to accept his new partner.

Kuroko also respected Kagami, in a lot of ways. Not just in relation to their job, though Kagami – with the right direction – might one day be able to actually defeat a miracle on his own, but in their somewhat home-like life, too. Kagami was an excellent cook and much neater than a single bachelor should be. He was also unfathomably kind. Having never particularly experienced a lot of kindness, Kuroko was finding it somewhat disconcerting. And having never had the chance or need to be kind to someone in turn, he was wondering how on earth he was supposed to repay Kagami for all that he was doing. Because how was someone who’d locked away their emotions for several long years supposed to find the discarded key and open up his feelings again? Kuroko was searching for an answer, but hadn’t found it yet.

Plus, he wasn’t sure if he even _wanted_ to go down that route. Of course Kagami was kind and wonderful and Kuroko was pretty sure he wanted to stay with him. But he also made Kuroko feel uncomfortable and shaky in the most primal of ways. Kuroko had woken up in the dead of night several times, hips writhing against the sheets, desperate for release as red eyes stared at him from behind his eyelids. He’d never felt sexual desire this strong before, and was quite at a loss as to what to do with it. Especially when he had so little to offer in return, not even taking into account his future, which was shaky at best and non-existent at worst.

So he’d been keeping a blank face around Kagami-kun, praying the other male wouldn’t figure it out. Not that he thought he would, he wasn’t even sure if the redhead was into guys. And his emotions were on lockdown, Kuroko not wanting to let everything go and ruin this little chance at happiness he’d somehow been granted.

“Kagami-kun,” he eventually answered, “Is out buying groceries.”

Kise stared for a second, then chuckled. “That’s something I never really expected to hear,” he admitted, stretching out on the sofa. “Grocery shopping just sounds so… _strange_.”

Kuroko’s lips quirked up in amused agreement. “Doesn’t it, though? Speaking of… how are you eating?”

Kise grinned. “Kasamatsu’s taken pity on me. He gets food delivered to my door every night. I have to work for it, and it’s going to be taken out of my salary once they figure out how to put me on the register without ringing too many alarm bells, but the food’s better than the energy bars I used to eat.”

“Are you…” Kuroko hesitated, “Happy?”

Kise tilted his head, considering the question. “I’m… I’m getting there,” he replied. “I’m happier than I’ve been for a long, long while,” he added when Kuroko’s eyes remained blank. “I never properly thanked you for showing me this side of life.”

Kuroko shook his head. “It was your own decision.”

Kise sighed. “But you saw what Akashi was doing, realised the entire situation first. I really do respect you, Kurokocchi,” the blond leant forward in earnest, wide golden eyes shining into blue. “You’ve done so much. You were the one who welcomed me to the team, who provided support when the others couldn’t. And you’re the one who essentially got me out when I was so close to losing myself. I owe you everything.”

Kuroko’s eyes widened for a long moment. He’d never known the blond had felt that way. Kise smiled, reading the - for once – clear emotions in Kuroko’s eyes easily.

“Honestly, Kurokocchi, I want you to be happy too. You should see if Kagamicchi can help you with that,” he tried to lighten the mood with a little teasing.

Kuroko glanced at the front door and Kise realised he’d hit the nail on the head. “You want him?” Kise asked in surprise.

Kuroko said nothing, his silence answer enough for the blond.

“Why don’t you do something?”

“I don’t… I’ve never had that experience,” Kuroko found himself admitting, without really thinking about it. “There was no point, back then. And now… I don’t know what Seirin and the others will do with me after we’ve brought down the rest of the miracles. I don’t have a contract like you.”

Kise sighed, resting his chin on his hand. “They won’t get rid of you. You’re too valuable,” he said definitively. “And Kagamicchi… well, I don’t know what kind of experience he’s had, but if it’s some then he can help you out. If it’s none, then you’re both in it together.”

Kuroko flushed, and the sound of the key in the door shut them both up. “Anyway,” Kise continued in a normal tone. “How do you even live a normal day here? What do we even _do_ that’s normal?”

Kuroko looked at him with an equally flummoxed look. “I have no idea,” he admitted. “Kagami-kun and I have been working late nights ever since I joined.”

“What’s up?” Kagami asked as he returned to his apartment and found Kise already inside, talking to Kuroko.

“What do normal people do for fun?” Kise asked, watching the tall redhead as he carried a load of grocery bags into the small kitchen.

Kagami glanced at the two of them watching him with a perplexed expression. “Drink. Socialise. Go to clubs or bars or whatever. Shopping, watching films. How should I know? I’m not exactly normal either. Doing what I do doesn’t leave one with a lot of free time for hobbies.”

“Hm,” Kise hummed, getting up to join Kagami in the kitchen as Kuroko also got up to follow him. “But what would you do if you had time off?” he asked, leaning a hip against the counter, watching with interest as Kagami moved fluidly around the kitchen, putting the different foods away in their rightful places.

“Play basketball, probably,” Kagami replied, his voice a little muffled as he stuck his head into the fridge. “Though it’s been a while.”

“Basketball,” Kise murmured. “Sounds fun.”

Kagami shrugged. “I guess. I don’t have much time for it nowadays though.”

“Shame. You look like you’d be good at it.”

Kagami shrugged again. “I was decent. I had an old friend in America I used to play with when we were kids. We had a coach who helped us out a lot. But then we both joined the special services, and ended up apart.

“Anyway,” he changed topic quickly, realising he’d said more than he should. “Want to help me make dinner?”

“Alright,” Kise agreed. “Though I’ve never done this before.”

Kagami took a second to process that, but took it with a shrug and handed Kise a knife. “You know how to use one of these,” he said.

“I’m better at throwing them,” Kise retorted, but accepted the chicken breasts placed in front of him.

“Cut them into cubes,” Kagami instructed. “We’re just gonna make a simple curry. But make sure you wash your hands afterwards. Raw chicken can poison you.”

“Poison was never my area of expertise,” Kise sighed, but did as ordered. “Murasakibaracchi was always better at those methods.”

Kagami felt a little uncomfortable. Murder wasn’t something he usually discussed around the dinner table, especially not the killing methods of particular assassins. His life had suddenly got a hell of a lot more surreal.

Kuroko noticed and poked Kise in the side, who promptly shut up and continued to slice, switching the conversation back to ‘normal people’ and their lives without a hitch.

Dinner was completed with very little extra input from the two miracles, who just ended up sitting in the kitchen talking to Kagami as he cooked for them. Jokes were slowly exchanged, mostly thanks to Kise and his bright personality, but even Kuroko cracked a smile here and there as the atmosphere became warm and friendly and somewhat familiar.

Kagami was surprised at the level of friendship he was actually feeling towards these two guys, as they sat on his sofa and ate curry and laughed around. They clearly weren’t normal, weren’t adapted for general daily life, with questions on the simplest things, and he wondered exactly how the Miracle’s had operated if their way of life had been so different, so lacking in everything warm. But he pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, knowing he was dangerously close to feeling sympathy for killers, but just let himself enjoy the evening with people he was coming to consider friends.

\-----------

Aomine was fuming. He stared down binoculars into the apartment belonging to a Kagami Taiga, and watched as Kise laughed at a comment Tetsu made and the other guy turn as red as his hair in indignation.

The _fuck_ were those two thinking? The _fuck_ was Akashi doing, letting them go? He was so confused and disappointed. They’d been a team. Not a very good one recently, granted, but they’d still been a team.

And now Tetsu had left, joined _law enforcement_ , and _Kise_ had joined him, even if on a different team. Aomine couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed. Aomine had waited for them to return for three weeks since the meeting where the two of them hadn’t turned up and Akashi had announced the end of their cooperation with the rest of the team.

And Kise didn’t even know how stupid he’d been. He’d just thrust his identity into the open, and Aomine had to protect his goddamn golden ass. Akashi had reminded him coolly that it wasn’t his business, that Aomine should just leave Kise to it, that if the ex-miracle had wanted to leave then he could and he was now in charge of his own life.

But goddamn it, Aomine couldn’t let it go. Haizaki was one of the dirtiest bastards around and was after Kise, had been for a long while. And with this stupid move, the rejected team member had now found out where the blond was, and was coming straight for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised after I'd written the entire part and most of part four that if I was to follow the actual storyline then Midorima's part should technically come first, but for the sake of the shipping (always v. important) and just because I love Aomine and I find Midorima kinda hard to write without being to OOC, this flowed first and here we are :)   
> thanks to the 20+ people who have subscribed, I hope I don't let you down as this goes on <3 and thanks to all of those who've left kudos/bookmarks/comments (sorry I haven't been getting back to those - life is hectic atm) and hope you enjoyyyy <3


	9. Chapter Eight

Kise left Kagamicchi’s place a little after midnight, full of delicious food and high off good company. He was feeling better than he could ever remember. The taxi took a short ten minutes to get back to his new mini-apartment and he let himself in, flopping down on the bed with a sigh.

“If I were anyone else, you’d be dead by now.”

A voice from the shadows caused the entirety of Kise’s body to thrum with tension, but he forced himself not to move, staying face down on the bed and keeping his eyes shut.

“Good job you’re not anyone else, then,” he murmured grumpily. He couldn’t look at his ex-teammate. He was scared he’d break down, that he’d regret. And he couldn’t afford that now. Not when he was just settling in.

“What are you _doing_ , Kise?” Aomine stepped out of the shadows so Kise could see his silhouette in the window. “Fucking about with Kaijo. What happened?”

Kise rolled over and stared at the ceiling. “You don’t understand,” he started with a sigh, “because you live off excitement, off danger, off challenges that most people would fear.”

“What?” Aomine didn’t understand.

“I’m tired, Aominecchi,” Kise whispered into the darkness, still not looking at his old crush, aware that if he did his emotions would surge and he wouldn’t be able to say what he wanted with his head on straight. “This game Akashi’s playing… it’s not what I signed up for. We’re not exactly _good_ people, but we didn’t hurt the good either. And now, we’re killing petty criminals for sport? My conscience might be less morally upright than most, but I still can’t do it.”

“Who said anything about petty criminals?” Aomine asked, stepping forwards.

Kise closed his eyes and Aomine finally saw the tension thrumming through the blond’s muscles. He’d done that? Did Kise trust him that little? He wasn’t sure why, but that stung.

“That’s what’s happening,” Kise murmured. “Our targets were- _are_ , getting less and less selective. We’re not what we once were, and I can’t abide by it anymore.”

“So you’ve joined the ‘right’ side of the law?”

“I suppose I have,” Kise agreed quietly, stunning the navy-haired miracle again. “Kasamatsu and his team… it’s hard to explain. I joined the miracles out of respect for you, out of a need to prove that my skills could be as good as yours. But I can’t do it. Not if hurting those who don’t deserve it is the result. Aominecchi… I respect you, I respect _all_ of the miracles. But I can’t be one of you. Not anymore. It hurts too much, and I need something else. Kaijo is helping me find that.”

“What are you saying?” Aomine, suddenly irrationally angry, stood next to the bed and stared down at the golden-eyed miracle. His stomach was in slick knots. Had they really fallen that far? Really lost their friendship so much that their members would abandon everything they knew?

“I’m saying that I’m happy here,” Kise’s eyes finally opened and sucked Aomine in. “That I made the right choice. You might not see it, might not understand my reasons, but I know this is right for me. I’m going to help Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi bring you all down. The Miracles set out as a team to win, to work together to make a living, and even if it was off the deaths of people, it was off the deaths of people who deserved to die. But now even that’s fallen apart, and I agree with Kurokocchi when he says it needs to stop, that we need saving. And if I have to help him save all of you, then I’ll work harder than I ever have before.”

Kise’s eyes were bright, passionate. He’d sat up without realising, not letting go of cobalt eyes as his hands gestured dramatically to punctuate his points. Aomine’s eyes dropped from gold, hearing the points and hating to admit that they rang with truth. He just didn’t want to acknowledge it. Because without the miracles, without those on his level, he’d be left without a challenge. And if he had nothing to compete with, then what was the point of trying at all? He was already bored with the jobs given to him, they were all too easy, even if others would have fallen at the first step. But what else was there? No law enforcement job was going to provide the challenge he needed to thrive, to improve. His skills were way above everybody else’s. The only one who could beat him was him. It had been that way for as long as he could remember, and his stomach ached with the knowledge every day.

“Aominecchi. Please. Can’t you see that Akashicchi’s going too far? This competition will do nothing but ruin us, ruin you.” Kise felt his heart rise to his throat and knew he wasn’t getting through to the blue-haired miracle. But he didn’t know what else he could _do_. He’d never been able to surpass Aomine, had barely reached his feet. And the knowledge had always twisted something inside him, hurt him until he hadn’t been sure what he was aiming for anymore. But now, with Kaijo, he had something to focus on, something where he wasn’t just killing. Something where he could possibly atone for the sins he’d committed.

Aomine sighed and stared down at earnest gold eyes. “You really believe it?” he asked.

Kise felt his throat tighten at the quiet tone that left Aomine’s lips. He’d never heard the blue-haired boy sound so unimpressed.

“I do,” he nodded, hoping some of his conviction would actually reach his old friend. He sank into blue eyes and had to remind himself every two seconds that Aomine didn’t want him in that way, didn’t care for him. He was just an ex-teammate, and nothing more. Even as every reminder chipped off another splinter of his heart.

“Well, it’s your life,” Aomine sighed, turning his back on the golden male. “Good luck with it.”

Kise felt his heart crack in two as Aomine left his apartment. Well, at least he knew that was that. Aomine would never want to speak to him again. He’d done what was best for his conscience, but his heart protested at the loss.

It wasn’t like he could have changed anything anyway, he tried to reassure himself. Aominecchi was Aominecchi, and if there was a man more stubborn than him then Kise had yet to meet him. But damn it, he wished it had gone another way. He wished there was another world where he and Aomine could have met, and the blond could have gained the courage to confess. Where Aomine had taken his confession well, and they’d done everything together as Kise had always secretly dreamed.

Sometimes, he decided, lying back on his bed and placing his arm over his eyes, it really fucking sucked to be a hopeless romantic with a heart set on one person and one person only.

\-----------

Aomine felt anger and confusion bubble in his blood as he left Kise in his apartment and headed back for his own base. Kise was happier without this life. Without the team. Without Aomine.

And Aomine had no fucking clue why that pissed him off so much. What did he care? The blond had never come to match his skills, had only provided some competition for a limited amount of time. And he’d never been able to be Aomine’s equal. Because he’d always looked up to him.

Stupid bastard. Aomine slunk into his hotel room and did the cursory sweep to make sure no-one had been snooping around. There was only one sign that someone had, and just through it Aomine knew who had visited.

A single envelope lay on top of his pillow, everything else, every trap he’d laid for an intruder left untouched and exactly as he’d left it.

With a sigh, he slid open the envelope and pulled out the sheet detailing his next hit.

_Petty criminals_.

The unusually sombre voice echoed in his head as Aomine stared at the photo of a guy whose main crime had been extortion. Sure, he’d done a hell of a lot of it, but why murder as punishment? Why not just maim the guy, put the fear of god – or more accurately the Generation of Miracles – into him, and be done with it?

He shook his head. This wasn’t like him. He didn’t question Akashi’s orders. Well, not very often. So why was this bloody niggling bit of doubt messing with him in the back of his thoughts? He’d got rid of his conscience a long time ago. There was no need for it to resurface now. He’d just do the hit, smooth and easy as usual, and move onto the next. It was just more money for the bank, and more points for his winning score in the game.

With a sigh, he followed the instructions and headed downtown, where the extortionist, as foretold, was sitting in his office with a couple of girls and several bottles of alcohol.

Aomine watched with distaste as the man answered the phone, able to hear from the open window as he spoke to someone who must have been his wife.

‘Working late’ my ass, Aomine scoffed, watching the guy shush the girls with a creepy, perverted grin as he ‘apologised’ to his wife and then hung up with the promise to be home in a couple of hours.

It would be too easy, Aomine thought. Wait until the girls were gone, until the male was about to leave. Then step into the office, lift his gun, and end it with a simple shot to the head. Leave his calling card in the breast pocket, tidy up after him, and leave. Akashi would put in an anonymous phone call to the police as soon as Aomine called in, and that would be the end of whatever-his-name-was.

So Aomine sat, and waited, watching through the window as the girls gave a lap dance, as the man drank more and more whisky. The girls started stripping, but Aomine found himself bored.

Which brought his thoughts to a screeching halt. Since when had he been _bored_ by half-naked dancing girls? He slapped himself a little to wake himself up, but still nothing. He swore quietly.

It was all fucking Kise’s fault. The blond miracle just _had_ to remain in the back of his thoughts twenty-four-seven, no matter what Aomine did to get rid of him. And Aomine couldn’t deny that he’d had more than one fantasy about the blond male, about covering those usually smiling lips with his own and seeing if he really did taste as good as he looked. Of dragging him off somewhere, just the two of them, no jobs, no work, no murder, just themselves and unlimited pleasure.

But the blond had only ever seen Aomine as a friend, and Aomine hadn’t been willing to push it. He’d had a small crush on Tetsu for a while, but that had been nipped in the bud when Kise had come crashing in, eclipsing the shadow with his golden light. And one didn’t mix work with pleasure. Aomine knew that as well as the next man. Especially not when someone was in the same line of employment that he was. One small slip in a mission could kill them all, and Aomine hadn’t been willing to risk that, not even for a good time in the sack with Kise.

Even though, Aomine sighed, staring up at the dingy ceiling of the room he was in, he didn’t just want sex with the blond. He knew it was impossible, had told himself it a million times over, but sometimes couldn’t help but long for something more. A relationship, as sappy and stupid as that was. But he knew that if Kise was to ever give his heart to someone, the big puppy-like male would need to be in a full relationship for it to work. And Aomine had wanted for a long time to give it to him. Until he’d lost his way, lost his drive, and as such lost any other longing for things like relationships.

Aomine snapped back to attention as the girls finally left with money in their hands and self-satisfied grins on their faces. The male was lounging in his chair, looking very pleased with himself. Aomine sighed and started to get up, wanting to get this over and done with.

_I can’t do it. Not if hurting those who don’t deserve it is the result._ Kise’s voice continued to echo in Aomine’s head.

Fuck. Aomine sighed and stared at the sheet given to him. Extortion. It was a shit crime, ruined hundreds of other people’s lives. And this guy was an expert at it, according to the investigation. Which wasn’t wrong – Satsuki was always right. Aomine knew that better than anyone.

So why was Aomine hesitating? Why was he suddenly so reluctant to go and pull the trigger? He’d done it a hundred times before, to a hundred criminals with similar crimes. Kise and Tetsu’s own personal views couldn’t affect his own – shouldn’t change his mind this easily.

But, _goddamn it,_ he just couldn’t fucking do it. With a sigh, he knew somewhere that this was the end of his career as a miracle. If he couldn’t do this job, he wouldn’t be able to do the others.

So what the fuck was he supposed to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KnB SEQUEL. I'M SO EXCITED. BRING ON DECEMBER  
> Also, 100 kudos (say what?!) exactly! <3 Thanks guys <3


	10. Chapter Nine

Aomine sighed heavily, having ended up watching Kise from a safe spot several hundred metres away, staked out in an apartment with a direct view into the blond’s.

He was lost as to what he should do, so had ended up here to save Kise from Haizaki, since he hadn’t told the blond about their old team member. Sighing, he couldn’t deny the reason why he’d ended up back protecting the blond. He was in too fucking deep, and he didn’t know how to fix the problem.

It was as he was cursing Kise for perhaps the millionth time in his head that he finally noticed what he’d been looking for.

Swearing under his breath, he checked his gun and knives were in their correct places, abandoned the rest of his things and legged it out of the apartment and across to Kise’s.

\-----------

“Kise,” a dark voice woke Kise instantly, and he had a split second to dodge the knife that came plummeting down towards his chest. It caught his arm and he gasped, but the pain woke him instantly as he rolled to his feet. He felt safer with the familiar feel of his knives sliding out of their sheaths on his wrists and into his palms, but he was too close to be able to throw them accurately.

But when he realised who his adversary was, he narrowed his eyes in distaste.

“Shougo-kun,” he forced out, and the other man grinned.

“So you do remember me,” he murmured, running a finger along the thin trail of Kise’s blood decorating his blade and watching the red drip down his hand with something like arousal. Kise could barely stop his expression of distaste. “Long time no see, Kise.”

“How did you get here?”

“Well,” Haizaki’s grin turned dark. “You gave everyone lovely directions when you transferred to Kaijo. I can’t imagine Akashi is very happy with you. Yet you’re openly working with the enemy? How the Generation of Miracles has fallen.”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Kise growled, “You were kicked out for a reason.”

Haizaki’s grin turned sour and sharp. “And I’ve come to settle the score.”

Kise narrowly dodged a bullet, literally, as Haizaki pulled out his gun. He silently thanked god for Kasamatsu’s painful training exercises that had kept him in shape and then some, so his reflexes were as sharp as they’d ever been.

A knife flew out of his hand, and with a flash of triumph slid across the back of one of Haizaki’s, making him release his gun with a curse.

A knife narrowly missed Kise in return, and he sighed as it embedded into the plaster behind his head. Though it didn’t really matter, since the bullet hole a few inches from it was probably more costly in terms of damage. But that wouldn’t matter anyway if he was killed in the next few minutes. If Kise didn’t do something, he was going to lose this battle, Haizaki had a million weapons on him and then some. But Kise had his stash of knives in his bedside drawer… if only he could reach it…

\-----------

Aomine felt his heart stop as the gunshot rang out as he was at the bottom of the stairs. Cursing Kise for living on the seventh floor, he vaulted over railings as he made his way up and burst into Kise’s flat.

Aomine would never admit the sheer flood of relief he felt at finding Kise alive and relatively unhurt. The blond was facing Haizaki off across his bed, a single knife in his hand while Haizaki pulled out a gun.

Almost unconsciously, Aomine’s gun was in his hand and he was stepping up behind Haizaki, gun pressed to the back of the other man’s head.

“Drop it,” he murmured. Haizaki froze, his gun only barely out of its holster. There was no way he’d have time to shoot Kise before Aomine shot him first.

“Aominecchi,” Kise gasped, but Aomine didn’t look over at the blond, unable to afford a loss in concentration even for a second.

“Daiki,” Haizaki sighed. “I should have known. You two cocksuckers always did back each other up.”

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up,” Aomine pronounced slowly and clearly, making his way around to Haizaki’s front.

“You gone to the ‘good’ side too?” Haizaki sneered, staring down Aomine with hate-filled eyes. “I should have known. The Generation of Miracles was nothing but a fantasy, barely able to keep up their worthless reputation.”

Aomine smiled and Haizaki felt the flat, cold stare chill him all the way down to his bones. “You have no right to talk about us,” he murmured, pressing the gun against his throat a little harder. Haizaki couldn’t stop his swallow, as much as he fucking _hated_ to show any form of fear.

Aomine caught it, and his smile turned even crueller.

“Not so strong, now, are you?” he taunted quietly, before moving as fast as a snake.

Haizaki crumpled to the ground, the blow to his head rendering him immediately unconscious. Aomine tutted and shook his hand, staring down at the body on the floor. He gave it a soft kick with his foot, watched the male flop onto his back, mouth agape and limp.

“You didn’t kill him,” Kise murmured quietly, staring at Aomine’s broad back and wondering what thoughts were running through the tanned male’s head.

“And we’re very glad he didn’t,” yet another voice came from the doorway. Aomine glared. No-one got the fucking jump on him. So how the hell had these guys come in so silently as to be undetected by him?

“Now now, Aomine, no need to glare at us that way,” the tall male stepped into the room, adjusting his glasses. His face was in shadow, nothing but black hair and somewhat cold features giving him any identification. “You were busy with Haizaki here. And if you don’t mind, we’ll take him off your hands for you and be gone in a minute. Unless,” the male paused, glancing at Aomine who stared back calmly, “You do also want to join the ‘good’ side, as our friend referred to it.”

Aomine said nothing and the man smiled a soft, cruel smile. “We’ll provide you with a challenge, that’s for sure. I’m Imayoshi, head of Touo, at your service.”

Aomine heard Kise gasp. He knew who Touo was. Everyone did. They were the kings of the underground, some of the most skilled government-contracted assassins around. They killed those who the government needed gone, but only if they wanted to, only if they deemed them in need of killing.

“Why?” Aomine asked, point-blank.

“Well, having a miracle on our team would do wonders for us,” Imayoshi drawled slowly, as two men entered the room and started to tie up Haizaki. “And now we have images of your face, and your voice print, you’ll be a lot easier to find if we ever need to find you. Which I know quite a lot of people would like.”

“Blackmail doesn’t work,” Aomine crossed his arms. “I’ll evade them all.”

Imayoshi judged him. “So you might,” he agreed. “But if you ever need us, you know where to find us. We’ll always be willing to take you in, if you wanted a steady job. If, like the other two miracles, you find yourself tired. We can provide you with whatever you need. And don’t forget, if you work for us, you’ll be able to pick your own targets. However challenging they might be. No babysitting. Think about it.”

And with that, Aomine and Kise just watched as the members of Touo took an unconscious Haizaki out of the room to do god-knew-what with him.

And, finally, Aomine turned to Kise.

“You really let him get the drop on you?” he asked with a sigh when he saw the blond tying his own t-shirt around his upper arm as a make-shift bandage.

Kise shrugged. “I was sleeping. If he hadn’t got overconfident and murmured my name, I’d probably have been done for.”

Aomine felt a flash of fear at that, but wouldn’t show the blond at any cost. Clenching his teeth, he watched as Kise went to inspect the wall.

“I never thought I’d have to worry about a landlord’s reaction to bullet holes in the wall,” Kise sighed.

Aomine could only stare at Kise’s shirtless back. He had countless scars, faded and criss-crossed across his skin, yet they didn’t detract from his beauty. If anything, in Aomine’s eyes, they only made him more beautiful. He’d survived so much pain, and would survive more. He understood what it was like to live like Aomine did, he had similar experiences.

“What are you doing here anyway, Aominecchi?” Kise finally asked the question burning on the tip of his tongue. “I thought I’d never see you again, to be honest.”

“You,” Aomine growled. “Have fucked with my head.”

Kise spun, staring at him in shock. “What?”

“I was given a job today,” Aomine started, folding his arms and trying not to stare at Kise’s lips, parted in shock and fucking begging for his. “A simple execution of an extortionist. Clean shot. Done. Over. And I couldn’t fucking _do it_.”

Kise blinked in shock. Aominecchi? Unable to complete a job? What was wrong?

“Because _you_ ,” Aomine shot a finger out accusingly. “Have fucked with my head, and made me doubt myself! I’m so fucking _bored_ , and you say you’re bloody _happy_ now you’ve quit, and what am I supposed to do? The only reason I fucking even went to those bloody GoM meetings was to see you.”

Aomine instantly shut his mouth, cursing himself for not thinking before he spoke. _Goddamnit._

“Aominecchi?” Kise questioned softly, wonderingly, unable to believe what he’d just heard.

“You fuck with my head, Kise. And I hate it.”

Kise flinched, and Aomine wondered as to the feelings Kise held for him that had caused that particular reaction.

“I’m sorry,” the blond lowered his eyes, his heart cracking into another piece. “It was never my intention to mess with you. I don’t want you to hate me.”

“If I hated you, dumbass,” Aomine sighed, “then I’d have left you for Haizaki. How could I hate you?”

“You’ve said it yourself,” Kise mumbled, still not looking up. “I’m irritating. I only hold the other members of our team back. I’m too loud, too flashy-.”

Aomine slamming another knife into the wall just above Kise’s shoulder shut the blond up.

“You don’t listen to me,” Aomine sighed. “If you were that irritating, stupid, I’d avoid you. And what did I just say?”

“I-,” Kise floundered for a long moment, his entire world being turned upside down until he wasn’t sure he was even awake.

“I said,” Aomine could no longer meet gold eyes and stared out the window over his shoulder. “That you were the only reason I went to those stupid GoM meetings. If I hated you, would I do that?”

Kise shook his head. “But… we never even really talked a lot.”

Aomine sighed. “Do you really need this spelling out for you?”

Kise nodded, totally confused.

“You dumbass,” Aomine groaned silently and gave up, sitting down on the bed. “I like you.”

“Aom-,” Kise broke off, clearly bewildered. “What?”

Aomine rolled his eyes, but he guessed it was understandable. “I said I like you. Have for a while. Couldn’t really tell you since we were in the whole, ‘I’m working with you and a single mistake like me wanting to strip you of your weapons and fuck you up against a wall would probably blow the mission and kill us all’ was a huge thing in the way.”

Kise sat on the bed next to Aomine, his knees pretty much giving out on him. “Aominecchi,” he couldn’t stop the smile breaking over his face. Aomine was so uncomfortable, and it gave Kise the upmost happiness. Because it meant Aomine was serious. He was being truthful.

“You thought about fucking me up against a wall?” he asked teasingly, even as he didn’t deny the bolt of heat shooting through him. He wasn’t exactly averse to the idea, he’d even had a few fantasies that were pretty similar.

Aomine snatched his wrist and forced him down, lying above him in a heartbeat. Kise stared up into blue eyes, heart pounding as his gaze dropped to the wicked mouth he wanted to kiss.

“I’ve thought about doing a lot of things to you,” Aomine murmured, watching Kise’s eyes close a little in lust and those biteable lips part. “You gonna let me do them?”

“You going to take me on a date?” Kise asked, needing to know this wasn’t just sex.

Aomine shot him a grin. “What do people even do on dates?”

Kise grinned back, “No idea,” he replied. “You’d better get thinking.”

Aomine felt the tension in his muscles loosen. That… hadn’t been as painful as he’d thought it might be. It might actually work out.

But before Kise could make another smartass comment, Aomine had lost his patience and sealed his lips over the soft ones of the male underneath him. Kise moaned softly, pulse quickening and Aomine marvelled at the reaction, able to feel it in Kise’s wrists under his fingertips.

\-----------

“You going to join Touo?” Kise asked quietly twenty minutes later. They’d made out for a while like horny teenagers, all grinding and friction and desperate need. They’d have gone further, but for the feeling of still being exposed since Touo had been in the apartment, and a lack of all necessities since neither of them had prepared for this.

“I might as well,” Aomine sighed. “I’m fucked with Akashi now. He’ll never forgive me for quitting that job. And if they let me pick my own jobs… I’ll be able to fit around your schedule too.”

Kise’s eyes shone. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I didn’t think I’d be able to get any happier after I’d quit but… I don’t think I can get any happier after this.”

Aomine offered him a rueful grin back. “I’ll fuck up,” he warned him. “I’m still a bit rusty on all this ‘emotions’ and ‘talking’ shit.”

“I’ll pull you back,” Kise promised, kissing him again. “Whenever you need me to, I’ll be there. Kurokocchi will, too, if I’m ever not around.”

Aomine sighed and gave in to his blond, holding on to the man who had brought him more solace in the space of thirty minutes than anything else ever could have.


	11. Part Four: the shooter - Chapter Ten

Takao Kazunari swore under his breath as he lost sight, _again_ , of the man he’d been trailing for the last week.

Midorima Shintarou. Or Shin-chan, as Takao liked to call him in his head. Because giving the Generation of Miracle’s number one shooter a cute nickname like Shin-chan helped to make him seem a hell of a lot less terrifying.

He’d been on this particular miracle’s trail for about a month now, and had finally traced him back to his current whereabouts in Tokyo. And he had, somehow, miraculously, come across Midorima’s next target, also Takao’s sister’s ex-boss, who was rude, cruel and a general scumbag. Not to mention a drug dealer, pimp and murderer to boot.

Which was how Takao had been keeping track of the miracle’s movements for the last week, but it was coming to the time where Shin-chan should be going in for the kill. No-one had quite figured out his pattern yet, since there were times where he waited for days as he stalked his prey, or shooting them on the day that it seemed the contract was signed. There was no rhythm or reason to it, no matter how many ways one looked at his killing dates.

Yet he was unwaveringly consistent with his killing methods. A single sniper shot, most usually to the head, eliminating his target instantly. It was brutal, cold, but efficient. And he had never missed a single shot. And, as with the rest of his team, a green calling card was always left. But, in Midorima’s case, it was always left in the spot where he’d shot from, as if taunting the police with a clue, but the hint was one that would just lead to a dead end every time.

It was terrifying, Takao had to admit. He hadn’t been able to get up close to actually see the Miracle’s face, nor had he figured out where the male was staying. But he knew he was close. Takao could almost _feel_ it. And so could Shin-chan’s target. The man had become extremely paranoid, prey clearly sensing that they were being stalked by a predator much bigger and deadlier than them.

So Takao was sticking close to the target for now, praying that he’d get his chance to come face-to-face with the miracle and disable him. Though he wasn’t yet sure exactly on how to do that…

Well, he had little time to think as the target headed inside his offices. Following, Takao managed to follow him into the well lit room. His heart racing, he knew it was about time that Shin-chan would probably be making his shot if he was making it today. And fuck if this dude wasn’t stupid. Because an entire wall of his offices was pure glass, looking over the park. And what kind of wanted man _did_ that?

Takao had barely taken a step towards him, had only just opened his mouth to yell a warning when a quiet _crack_ echoed through the room, and the man collapsed to the carpet, a single hole in his forehead.

Takao felt like he was about to vomit as he stared at the corpse in front of him who’d only seconds ago been alive. Of course, he’d seen death before. He’d killed people himself, for god’s sake. It was part of being part of Shutoku, of one of the very few teams selected by the government for undercover criminal operations, without directly being influenced by all of the rules and regulations the government forced upon their ‘correct’ employees.

But this was hollow and empty. Pulling out his phone to dial for his boss, he froze when it was shot to pieces in his hand. Staring out at the window, at the second little circle in the glass that had cut through it cleanly with barely any cracks – an impossible feat – he wondered dumbly why he wasn’t dead yet. His hand stung, pieces of his phone having cut into his palm, though not very deeply.

What kind of accuracy did this shooter have? To shoot a phone clean out of his hand, without hurting the holder… Takao couldn’t comprehend it, his brain shutting down. It was impossible. Absolutely impossible.

He waited for another minute, staring defiantly out the window. Judging all possible angles, he hoped he was looking in the right place as he stared through the tiny hole at where he assumed Shin-chan had made the shot from. If he was going to die, he was going to do it facing his attacker, even if he couldn’t see them. Because Shin-chan was just another human, just like him. And Takao was going to take him down if it was the last thing he did.

\-----------

Midorima stared in disbelief as the agent just stared out of the window blankly, as if waiting to be shot. Not even thinking about it, he began to pack up his gun, placing the green card next to his lucky item, a small silver ring, on the floor as he always did. There was no use killing an agent he wasn’t assigned to kill, especially not one with ties to the government, even if said ties would be denied by all parties involved. He wasn’t sure how he knew the male was affiliated with the government, but his hunches were usually never wrong.

He glanced back through his scope as he taped his fingers without looking, careful as ever. The man was still standing there, as if in shock. Not that Midorima cared. Even if something about the man instantly put him on edge. Shaking it off, he took a last moment to check the room was clear and to slide the ring back onto his finger.

Who was that man? Midorima tried not to think about it, but the man’s face kept flashing in his head during the entire journey back to his current flat. All things considered, Midorima was pretty sure he was the agent who’d actually managed to follow him for the last week, an impressive feat. Though Midorima could have shaken him off at any point, he’d been curious enough to let the man stay on his tail until it was time for the job, just to see what he would have done.

Which had, evidently, been nothing. He’d just followed him, as if trying to figure something out. Midorima didn’t know exactly who he was, or how he’d found him, but he had to admit he was quite impressed with the stranger’s skills. Not many had the ability to find him in a crowd. Especially not many who’d also made an extremely good guess as to where he’d aimed from, and stared defiantly up at him.

Midorima shook the weird feeling off again, unpacking his gun to clean it thoroughly before finding a suitable meal for dinner.

As he sat and ate alone, he wondered how his ex-teammates were doing. Akashi had recently announced that they had also lost Aomine, but Midorima hadn’t particularly been surprised. Aomine would always follow after Kuroko and Kise, it had been obvious at his displeasure and somewhat _hurt_ emotions which had leaked through at the last meeting without the other two.

It was a foolish move, as far as Midorima was concerned. Law enforcement was horrifically inefficient, with far too much red tape that was only defied anyway. And if Aomine hadn’t been able to satisfy his desperate need for a strong opponent under Akashi’s guidance, then in no way, shape or form was he going to be able to find it on the ‘right’ side of the law.

Sighing, he washed up his plates and returned them to their exact spaces. He wouldn’t have a job for another few days, Oha-Asa had instructed Cancers to reduce their workload. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. Maybe he’d find out who that agent was, since he was intelligent enough to stay on his trail, and figure out how much of a threat he’d be in the future. With dark hair and sharp eyes in mind, he showered and retired to bed, willing to let himself relax for now.

\-----------

Kuroko watched as Kagami-kun narrowly missed a knife blade coming at his face. The redhead’s grin was sharp and filled with something like delight as he danced out of the way, avoiding every attack Aomine-kun launched at him.

They’d been doing this for about an hour. Having been introduced to each other a week after Aomine defected, the two males had instantly set each other off. Kuroko could see why. They were both so similar. Both brilliant at what they did, leagues above the rest. Both tall and broad and similarly built. They both had similar quick tempers, but could be diffused easily. Kise grinned as he saw where Kuroko’s thoughts were heading and draped his arm over the smaller boy’s shoulders. They’d finished their practise and were just sitting, watching the other two as their competitive spirits wouldn’t let them stop until one had emerged the victor.

Kuroko glanced up at the blond and was relieved to see contentedness glowing from the golden male.

“They’re both doing so well,” he murmured. “I never thought Kagamicchi would keep up this far, even as good as he is.”

“He’s been practising hard,” Kuroko responded, watching as Kagami _almost_ managed to disarm Aomine. Taunts echoed in the small space as they took it up yet another notch, goading each on with the smallest of looks.

“He’s not quite as fast as Aominecchi,” Kise mused. “But he makes up for it with his movements. He gets so far in a single stride…”

Kuroko said nothing and Kise glanced down at him. “How is it? Living with him?”

“It’s good,” he nodded carefully. “He’s an excellent cook.”

Kise chuckled. “I know that. I meant in terms of your friendship. Have you told him yet? That you want him?”

Kuroko shook his head. “Kise-kun, we’ve discussed this.”

Kise sighed. “I know. I know. But I want the same happiness for you that I have with Aominecchi.”

“And that’s very kind of you,” Kuroko softened a little under Kise’s earnest tone. “But I’m perfectly content as I am. Just being near him is good enough for now.”

Kise sighed but squeezed his shoulders a little. “Alright,” he accepted dubiously, but was stopped from asking any more questions as Kagami was suddenly pinned to the floor, Aomine’s knife at his throat.

“My win,” Aomine said, sounding bored.

“Draw,” Kagami corrected, and Aomine pulled back as the tip of Kagami’s blade pressed against his stomach.

Delight flickered in Aomine’s eyes. _This_ was what he’d been waiting for. This competition, this feeling set fire to his blood. Red eyes sparked fire up at him and he got up, offering his hand out.

“My wound was more serious,” he said as Kagami took it and was pulled to his feet. “I could have survived your gut shot.”

“As if,” Kagami scoffed, and Kise and Kuroko rolled their eyes simultaneously as it broke out into another round of bickering. The two boys hadn’t stopped arguing since they’d met. But it was clear they both enjoyed it, practically grinning as they traded barbs back and forth.

They all showered and changed and went their separate ways, Aomine following Kise back to his apartment where he was crashing while he continued to settle into Touo. Though, from the way their relationship was progressing, it was essentially a given that Aomine would end up moving in, taking the very few belongings he had with him.

Kuroko had to say he was happy for the two of them. Aomine, while still not totally happy, had lost a lot of the shadows that darkened his eyes, had lost some of the weight pressing down on his shoulders. And Kise was helping him find his new place in the world, which he was sure was helping. Because Kise, while still admiring Aomine and loving the navy-haired boy with everything in him, had also come to see them on more of an equal level, and was becoming the kind of partner that Aomine had always needed. They were a perfect fit, and Kuroko was happy for them.

But he had to admit he was also a little jealous. They both had safe, secure places in their new lives, with partners who would support them every step of the way. And while Riko had been hinting that Kuroko may be able to join Seirin when everything was over, nothing was guaranteed, especially if the final three miracles weren’t defeated.

Then there was Kagami. Kuroko wouldn’t lie to himself; his sexual frustration was only increasing the longer he spent with the redhead. Living in his apartment and working with him almost all hours of the day meant he saw almost all sides to the redhead, and he liked what he saw. Because Kagami was strong, confident, even if he was overly-confident sometimes which could lead him into trouble. And though he was the best at his job, he never put the others down, being a perfect team player. Well, unless the team was in danger, and then he had the stupid idea to risk his neck before everyone else’s. Which, while understandable, had also led to the appropriate nickname of ‘bakagami’ whenever he did something too stupid.

And, obviously, it wasn’t only Kagami’s actions and kind words that put Kuroko on edge. The male’s body was something to be worshipped, ideally with his mouth. Kuroko had woken up on more than one occasion and gone into the kitchen to find Kagami making breakfast shirtless. And on each occasion, glad for his lack of presence, Kuroko had retreated to his room to get his breathing under control. Because even when an exhausted, hot, sweaty Kagami turned Kuroko on – let alone a fresh, shirtless one cooking for him – he knew he was in deep. And he’d never wanted anyone, or even anything, this much before.

But he couldn’t do a thing about it. He wanted to tell Kagami, but couldn’t deal with rejection. Having been dealt rejection most of his life, admittedly Kuroko was used to it. But if he were to face a dismissal from Kagami, who’d been nothing but kind to him so far, and to fuck up their relationship… Kuroko wasn’t sure what he’d do.

So, despite his own wants, and Kise’s quiet encouragements and urgings, Kuroko remained silent and just hoped that one day he’d be able to resolve this in a way that wouldn’t leave things a giant mess for everyone.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Midorima woke up at precisely six thirty the next morning. He was dressed and eating breakfast as he listened to Oha-Asa’s daily horoscope at seven a.m. exactly. He went out to his storage locker after breakfast to obtain his lucky item for the day, a green ribbon. Tying it around his wrist, he protected it under his watch as he debated what to do for the day he had off.

Cancer’s hadn’t been ranked particularly high today, but nor did he have to take extra caution. And the advice had been ‘practise makes perfect’ as clichéd as that was. Checking his schedule, he hadn’t been to the shooting ranges downtown in a reasonable-enough time, so decided to spend at least the morning there practising his shooting. For while he never missed, it was not something that one could leave entirely up to fate. He had to prove himself worthy of fate’s assistance.

\-----------

Meanwhile, Takao was being yelled at by his superior for letting yet another murder happen under his watch. Not that he’d had any particular control over the matter, but he had little choice but to take the reprimands.

But after a while, his captain sighed. “If you really, really do want to catch this guy-,”

“Of course I do!” Takao inserted hotly.

“Then,” Ootsubo continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “Go talk to Kaijo or Touo. It’s rumoured they’ve had a couple of miracles join them.”

Takao had heard these rumours but hadn’t put much faith into them, since the odds of something like that happening were over a million to one. But if his captain was saying it… there had to be some truth in the matter.

“Understood,” he sighed, but it was to the dial tone as his captain had already hung up on him.

Grateful for the advice and the permission, Takao set out for Kaijo. Although Touo had the better reputation, and therefore would be the more likely company for a miracle, they weren’t known for being friendly to strangers. So he’d start out at Kaijo and hope the rumours were correct.

\-----------

He pulled up outside of Kaijo’s building and let himself in.

“I’m looking for Kasamatsu,” he told the front desk. Shutoku and Kaijo had had dealings before, had worked together a few times, so while he wasn’t close with Kaijo’s head, he was well-known.

“He’s in his office. I’ll buzz you up,” the receptionist nodded when she saw his badge and ID.

“Thank you.”

He was let up into the office, where Kasamatsu was lying on the sofa with an arm across his eyes. “Takao,” he groaned without getting up. “What’s up?”

“What’s wrong with you?” Takao asked, somewhat insensitively.

Kasamatsu sighed. “I’m sure you’re here about the rumours regarding the miracles. Well, it’s true. And he’s a pain in the fucking ass. Senpai this and senpai that. I thought I’d left it all behind in fucking high school.”

Takao couldn’t stop a snicker at the disgruntled tone. “I could do with asking him a couple of questions.”

Grey eyes finally met his as Kasamatsu sat up wearily. He was clearly exhausted, dark circles under his eyes and his hair hadn’t been touched in at least three days, except for fingers running through it in probable frustration.

“What for?”

“I’ve almost found one of his teammates,” Takao admitted. “But he keeps getting away. I was hoping for some inside info.”

“You’ve almost got one?” Kasamatsu replied incredulously. “Which?”

“Sh- Midorima,” Takao prevented himself from saying his silly nickname at the last second.

Kasamatsu raised an eyebrow. “The shooter, huh,” he lay back down. “I can give you Kise. Whether or not Aomine and Kuroko get involved or not is another story, but it’s likely.”

“Kuroko?” Takao had heard of Aomine, almost everyone had heard of the ace, but the other name was unfamiliar.

Kasamatsu chuckled humourlessly. “He’s the one that started all this. He’s the Phantom.”

“He exists?” Takao questioned disbelievingly.

Kasamatsu laughed. “And he’s called the Phantom for a reason. Constantly pops up out of nowhere. Gets past all the security systems without triggering any alarms or disabling them. I have no fucking clue how he does it. His nickname was the Phantom for a reason.”

Takao hummed pensively.

“He’s with Seirin,” Kasamatsu added. “They’ve got that hotshot too, that dude from America. He’s pretty good.”

Takao watched as Kasamatsu got up with a sigh and made his way over to the phone. “Anyway, I’ll let Kise know. What they do with you is up to them.”

Takao nodded. “Thanks.”

“You might not thank me after this. They’re all a pain in the ass,” Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. “Oh, and Aomine’s doing Kise something fierce, so be prepared for the ‘overprotective boyfriend’ vibe coming off him if you get too close.”

Takao raised his eyebrows but nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

\-----------

It was surprisingly easy. Kise and Aomine were already on their way to Kaijo to use the gym for training, and they told Kasamatsu they’d see about pulling Kuroko and Kagami in if they weren’t too busy.

The Seirin team members weren’t, so just over an hour after Takao arrived at Kaijo they were all gathered in Kasamatsu’s office.

Takao watched as Kise and Aomine walked in first, evaluating all areas of their new space as would be expected from assassins before turning to him.

“You’re Takao?” the guy who had to have been Aomine asked, looking unimpressed.

Takao met the dark eyes levelly, “I am.” He replied, almost but not quite keeping the defiance out of his voice.

Kise smiled brightly. “Hi, Takaocchi,” he said cheerily, receiving a frown from Aomine, “I’m Kise. This grump is Aominecchi.”

“Aomine,” the ace corrected, folding his arms but doing nothing to restrain the blond.

“Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi should be here soon,” Kise continued brightly, ignoring his lover. “So we’ll talk when they get here.”

“Stop being so fucking cheery!” Kasamatsu snapped from his desk, a pen launching itself at Kise’s head. Kasamatsu had his head on the desk, expression dark, almost groaning in pain. Takao could sympathise. He was already a little overwhelmed by how _bright_ the golden male shone, unable to comprehend how he could have been an assassin with looks like those, and such a strong presence. And yet there was something about him that left Takao thinking that he could be friends with the blond.

“Kasamatsu-senpai, you’re so mean!” Kise wailed, even as he caught the pen easily in one hand. “Aominecchi, aren’t you going to defend me?” he pleaded, glancing up at the darker male.

Aomine scoffed. “It’s only a pen. And besides, you deserve it. It’s not even ten in the fucking morning.”

Kise slumped and pouted, but when Aomine wrapped his arm around the blond’s waist he leant easily into the casual embrace. Takao couldn’t stop a little envy. It had been almost a year since he’d been laid, a couple more since he’d had an actual relationship. He’d found himself a little lonely lately, and had naturally thrown himself into his work, into finding Shin-chan, rather than thinking about it. So a reminder was the last thing he wanted.

Barely two seconds later, the door opened again and a tall redhead walked into the room with a light-blue haired boy at his side.

“Kurokocchi! Kagamicchi!” Kise said brightly, but made no motion to move away from Aomine. “You’re here.”

“Good morning, Kise-kun. Aomine-kun. Sorry for the intrusion, Kasamatsu-kun,” the blue haired boy, presumably the phantom and therefore Kuroko, spoke softly into the room.

“Morning,” Kagami yawned and flopped down on the sofa next to Takao. “You’re the one after Midorima?” he asked.

Takao nodded. “I am.”

“I’m Kagami,” the redhead sighed, stretching out on the sofa. “We’re gonna help you with whatever we can.”

Takao narrowed his eyes. “What’s the catch?”

“We don’t want to kill the rest of the miracles,” Kuroko spoke up quietly. Everyone but Kagami and Takao jumped – Kagami because he’d got used to the blue haired boy jumping up everywhere. But Kise noticed and his eyes narrowed on Takao for a long moment, storing the information in the back of his head. “If possible, we want them to join law enforcement, like Kise and Aomine have.”

“What makes you think Sh- Midorima will?” Takao asked, curious as to his reasoning.

Kuroko sighed. “It is true that Midorima-kun’s loyalty to Akashi-kun is strong,” he murmured.

“But Midorimacchi doesn’t like killing innocents or lesser people anyway,” Kise added in as Kuroko hesitated. “It’s ‘inefficient’.”

Aomine snorted. “He’s a stuck up bastard, in other words.”

“No!” Kise protested. “He’s just anal about things. You know his obsession with his fingers. And Oha-Asa.”

“Oha-Asa?” Takao repeated. He’d heard of that. It was a horoscope or something weird like that.

Kise grinned brightly at him. “Midorimacchi is… a little strange.”

Aomine snorted again, but a whack from Kise shut him up so the blond could continue. “He’s very… careful? I suppose is how I should word it. But his methods work for him, so… Anyway, he follows Oha-Asa very carefully. Always has the lucky item with him, and will only do jobs on days where Oha-Asa’s lucky item is appropriate to take on a job. He also won’t do jobs when his star sign, Cancer, is ranked last. He takes it quite seriously.” Aomine rolling his eyes suggested that it was more than serious for the other miracle, but Takao could barely believe his ears. “So that’s why he won’t be doing anything today!” Kise added brightly.

“How do you know?” Takao frowned.

“Because,” Kise paused for effect, “Cancers are ranked seven out of twelve. Not high enough to be good, not low enough to be bad. His lucky item today is a ribbon that matches his eye colour, so green. His advice for today is that ‘practise makes perfect’,” Kise added brightly.

“So he’ll be on the ranges,” Aomine explained in a bored tone. “He practises a hell of a lot. But that left hand of his is no joke,” he warned. “Though he prefers long range shots, is a specialist at it, he’s deadly with any make or model of any gun.”

“Which ranges?” Takao asked.

All of them nodded, as if Takao had passed some sort of test.

“The most likely ones are downtown,” Aomine answered. “They’re the only ones with targets over a thousand metres away.”

“Over a thousand?” Takao murmured in disbelief.

“He’s that good,” Kise warned, even with a note of pride in his voice, getting up. “Well then, let’s go.”

\-----------

Midorima was just finishing his final long-range shots when he heard voices that made his stomach go cold.

Aomine, Kise, Kuroko and two other people marched into the room. His eyes latched onto the last person, following everyone else. It was his stalker. Silently swearing, Midorima kept him in his vision as he sighed and placed the rifle down on its stand.

“There he is!” Kise cheered brightly. “Midorimacchiiiiiii!”

“Go die, Kise,” he returned automatically, bending down to pick up the used shells. “What do you all want?”

“We just came to talk, Midorima-kun,” Kuroko said quietly.

“I have nothing to say,” he replied tonelessly. “I don’t understand why you chose to align yourself with such a weak team, and went and dragged Kise and Aomine into it either.”

“We weren’t dragged,” Kise sighed, seriousness flitting over his face. “We wanted this.”

Aomine shrugged in agreement. Midorima stared for a long moment, before turning away.

“Well that’s your decision,” he murmured, tossing the used shells into the box and starting to dismantle the rifle. “And as such has no relation to me.”

“But it could do,” Kise sighed, “You could join us. Any one of our teams would take you willingly.”

“Not interested,” Midorima replied plainly, ignoring Kise’s wail of ‘disappointment’. “All of you might have no respect for Akashi, but he is my teammate. I will not turn my back on him so easily.”

“Midorima-kun,” Kuroko protested quietly.

Midorima shook his head. “You have all severed your ties to the Generation of Miracles. As such, you have no ties to me, and I have no ties to you in return. If you would excuse me.”

“You’d turn your back on your teammates so easily?” the man who’d been stalking Midorima spoke up as he started to leave the room.

“Takaocchi?” he heard Kise whisper quietly, which _finally_ gave his stalker a name.

He glanced back, met dark eyes that held his steadily. He sighed, adjusting his glasses. “I am not the one who turned my back,” he answered coldly. No comment or complaint followed him out of the room and he left in a cold silence.

But the uneasy feeling that had been with him all day still followed him as he left the range. Glancing at the register, he sighed when he noticed they’d all put their real names down in the visitors book. But, it did provide him with a first name to the face of his stalker.

_Takao Kazunari_.


	13. Chapter Twelve

_‘You’d turn your back on your teammates that easily?’_

The words echoed constantly in Midorima’s head and he was not happy about it, by any stretch of the imagination. Who was Takao to question his motives, his opinions?

It wasn’t like he _liked_ what Akashi was doing, what their ‘lord’ had done. The competition had been a way to get the best out of the people who were already better than anyone else. To test limits.

And, admittedly, the test had failed. Kuroko had first seen it, first figured it out, and left. Midorima had watched quietly, wishing he had the ability to follow so easily in the shadow’s footsteps. But his loyalty to Akashi, to the lonely emperor, had prevented him from doing so. And probably would for a long while.

So why on earth was Midorima now _following_ Takao? He wasn’t even sure of his own reasons anymore. He only knew that the black-haired male had struck a chord in a part of him that he’d thought long since rotted away. For when one specialised in killing, and within that speciality did what was described as the coldest method of ending a life, of taking someone’s hopes and dreams and future from far away when the victim couldn’t even see death coming for them, there would be very little left of one’s soul. Midorima had accepted this a long time ago.

So why was he now regretting this? Why was he wishing that he was a man that didn’t _need_ to turn his back on his old teammates? Because, deciding to join law enforcement aside, Midorima did respect Kuroko and his choices. Kise and Aomine had also earned his respect as professionals at their trade, even if their methods and views were vastly different to his. And they’d accepted him, strange beliefs and all. They’d teased him for it, laughed about it, but never shunned him for his quirks.

And while his relationship to Akashi was closer than that to his other teammates, it was also a much more strained relationship, one that could barely be called a friendship.

So why was he putting up with it?

As he watched Takao laugh with the others, he realised that his stomach was churning with something like longing. What would that be like? For a man so jovial, so carefree in his attitude without being careless, to laugh and joke with you as if you had his trust? Midorima wasn’t sure, but he wanted to know. He wanted that experience. But he just couldn’t abandon Akashi to do it.

His phone beeped with a message. His next target. Today was a good day for Cancers, so he’d complete it right away. Which Akashi knew, of course.

But he found his stomach dropping, his heart turning to stone as he read the name on the single line of text.

_Takao Kazunari._

\-----------

An hour later, he was let into Akashi’s office and stood before his team leader.

“Shintarou,” Akashi murmured smoothly, his voice giving off the essence of warmth. But compared to Takao’s voice, it sounded dead. And Midorima frowned in his head. Why was he comparing everything to Takao? “What’s wrong?” Akashi continued. “Do you have a problem with your next target?”

“Why him?” Midorima questioned Akashi for the first time in a long time, possibly for the first time ever. “Why Takao?”

“He’s the man who’s managed to follow you for a week,” Akashi replied as if Midorima was a child and needed it spelling out very slowly for him. “He’s a nuisance and a threat. We can’t allow him to come any closer.”

“You realise he’s socialising with Kise, Aomine and Kuroko?”

“Of course,” Akashi’s eyes flashed with irritation. “All the more reason to eliminate him. Don’t make me repeat myself, Shintarou.”

Midorima felt himself churn with anger for the first time in a long, long time. This wasn’t _fair_. He didn’t want to have to kill Takao.

Which made no sense. He didn’t even _know_ the other man. He’d only ever spoken to him once, and that hadn’t even been a proper conversation.

“If I do this…” Midorima hesitated, but it was the right thing to do. He’d checked Takao’s history and the man hadn’t committed any serious crimes. He’d never done anything but threaten Akashi’s peace of mind. “If I do this, it will be the last job I do for you.”

Akashi’s eyes flashed, but Midorima couldn’t read him.

“You object to my decision that strongly?” Akashi asked.

Midorima thought carefully. “I object to killing a man who has not committed serious crimes. To one who, although he may be hunting me down, has never come close enough to worry me.”

Akashi’s eyes narrowed. “You let him get close.”

Midorima shrugged. “I was curious as to what he would do.”

“That isn’t very like you.”

“The team’s defection has made me think about a few things,” Midorima replied defiantly.

Akashi sat back. “Very well, Shintarou. Consider this your last job for me.”

With acid swirling in his stomach, Midorima left the office, storming right past Momoi, who was staring at him as if he’d grown a new head. There wasn’t much time left, so he headed straight to his storage lockers to find his rifle.

\-----------

Kise sighed as the four of them flopped back on the sofa in Kasamatsu’s office again, discussing Midorima for the millionth time since they’d seen him two weeks ago.

“I didn’t think Midorimacchi felt that way,” he admitted quietly. “As if we’d turned our back on him.”

Kuroko sighed as he sat across from Kise. “Neither did I,” he admitted. “I should have thought about that, but his loyalty to Akashi was always so prominent in our meetings…”

“Plus he always acted like he didn’t give a fuck,” Aomine grumbled, but even the navy-haired boy was a little bothered by what the green-haired shooter had said, considering he’d felt those emotions himself towards Kise and Kuroko before defecting himself.

“How strong is his loyalty to Akashi, then?” Takao asked, feeling his stomach sink.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but with that one single comment from Midorima, all hate he’d been feeling for the miracle had disappeared. Instead he’d just felt… pity. Which wasn’t a good thing when he was aiming to arrest him.

“Akashi… had an interesting hold over Midorimacchi,” Kise said when no one else volunteered to say anything. “They played shogi almost weekly. They were mental adversaries. Of course, Akashi never loses, so Midorima was always the loser. Yet he always went back to challenge him again…”

They were interrupted with the sound of the office phone ringing. Kasamatsu shushed them all and answered it, but a frown quickly appeared on his forehead as he held the phone out to Kuroko.

“It’s for you.”

The shadow got up, nonplussed, and took the phone. A lot of murmuring and a few quiet apologies later, he hung up and turned to the curious others with a worried expression.

“Midorima-kun has a new target.”

“Why is this bad?” Kagami asked, seeing the unhappiness filling the shadow’s eyes and irrationally wanting to wipe it away. Preferably with a kiss. But he forced those thoughts out of his mind, even as he knew they’d only be back in ten minutes. He’d been thinking more about the shadow than he should have, especially considering Kuroko seemed to have no interest in him above a professional working partnership. But at home, whenever he smelt the vanilla soap Kuroko was so fond of, saw his clothes hanging out to dry whenever the shadow did washing and everything else… it felt so bloody domestic, and was leaving him wanting more.

“His target is Takao-kun,” Kuroko broke into his thoughts. Everyone instantly snapped to full attention.

“Shit,” Aomine summed up the entire situation in one word a few seconds of silence later.

“According to Momoi-san,” Kuroko sighed, “Midorima-kun has left Akashi-kun’s house after speaking to him about the job. He didn’t look happy.”

“How did Satsuki know you’re here?” Aomine frowned. “She was very upset when you left, you know.”

Kuroko bowed his head, looking guilty. Kagami was about to say something to comfort him, when Kise, also reading the mood, spoke.

“Momoicchi knows everything. Anyway, maybe Midorimacchi won’t go through with it?” Kise suggested hopefully, but no one believed it for a second.

“How do I not get shot?” Takao asked, staring up at them all.

“It’s likely Midorima already knows you’re here,” Aomine sighed, getting up and stretching before closing the curtains as if that was perfectly natural in the middle of the day. “So stay here. We’ll go search for the best spots he’d be and stop him.”

“I can’t leave you guys to all the dangerous stuff,” Takao protested.

“Takao-kun,” Kuroko silenced him, but the shadow’s voice was unexpectedly gentle. “Would you please leave this to us? We’ve only known you a short time yet I think we’d all like to consider you a friend. If we can help you, and also help Midorima-kun, then we’d like to do everything we can.”

Takao was utterly defeated with those words and sank back into the sofa with a quiet groan. “Fine. But be careful!”

Everyone nodded and left quickly, leaving him alone in the office with his thoughts.

What the hell was going on?

\-----------

Midorima watched as Kuroko, Kagami, Kise and Aomine stepped out of the building, not even making it subtle that they were coming to find and stop him.

But the truth was, he couldn’t even do it. He was a failure.

His rifle was still in his storage locker, untouched. He’d abandoned Akashi, left everything he’d known behind. And now he just had to put himself on the line and risk everything on the slim chance that Takao wouldn’t kill him.

He’d been to Shutoku, spoken to their captain and explained his situation. The captain had agreed, as long as Takao did too, since his only stipulation was that Midorima would become Takao’s partner for the first year or so to ‘keep him on the straight and narrow’.

Midorima couldn’t say he was extremely happy with the terms, but neither was he dissatisfied. Though he wasn’t sure how he himself would take it, given his somewhat intense reaction to Takao and the smaller male’s presence. He wasn’t sure yet what it was that put him so on edge. He could understand a little tension, considering that this man had managed to follow him for a while, hadn’t flinched while standing in a room next to a body that Midorima himself had killed.

But the emotions rattling in his chest whenever he saw or even thought about the male, which again was too often for his own peace of mind, were far too strong to ignore, too complex to disregard as confusion.

He waited a few minutes for the other miracles and Kagami to disperse, then crossed the rooftop and entered Kaijo’s building. Walking down the stairs, he brought up the map of the building in his head and worked his way to the Captain’s office, where he assumed Takao would be.

The black-haired male was there, pacing behind the closed curtains. His head whipped instantly towards the door and he stopped dead as he saw Midorima enter.

“It’s not like you to kill up close,” he commented darkly as Midorima shut the door behind him.

“I’m not going to kill you,” Midorima said, standing just inside the door. He didn’t want to feel trapped, nor did he want Takao to feel cornered.

“What?” Takao murmured, disbelieving.

“Believe it or not,” Midorima continued, pushing up his glasses. Takao couldn’t help but follow the movement with his eyes, wondering what it was about those slim fingers covered in tape that tightened his stomach. It was _not_ lust. It couldn’t be.

Fuck.

“I have conditions,” Midorima snapped him back to reality. “The main one is that my targets have committed a large enough crime that they would be sentenced to death, or life in prison. You fulfil neither of these requirements, and as such I see no need to end your life.”

Takao just stared in shock. “But… you’d have to quit the miracles if you turned down a job,” he murmured in disbelief, having heard that from Kise and the others.

“So I have,” Midorima answered smoothly. His face and body language was neutral, but his hands were secretly sweating as he folded his arms and stared at a point just past Takao’s head. “And I approached Shutoku. I was told that, with your consent, I would be able to join.”

“Why would I consent?” Takao asked coldly.

Midorima felt the words like a bullet wound and nodded.

“Good question,” he agreed. “You have no reason to. Except my skills.”

“You could turn your back on us as easily as you did the others,” Takao snapped, but even as he said it he knew it wasn’t true. Midorima wasn’t the one who’d done that, even as the others had also had their reasons which couldn’t be argued against.

“I-.”

“No,” Takao shook his head, “I was wrong with that. Sorry.”

He watched Midorima’s eyes widen with confusion behind black frames. As if the other boy was rarely ever apologised to. He wondered exactly what Midorima was like, as a person. If he was unused to apologies, the people he must have spent his time around can’t have been the kindest. So maybe that was why he had so many problems communicating with others. Against his will, Takao felt pity and compassion well up for the other male, standing so stoically in front of him. As if it didn’t matter, when he’d quit the Miracles and now had nothing else by way of a job.

“I’ll give you a month trial period, Shin-chan.” he sighed, leaning against the wall as he met the green eyes that flew to his. “But for now, we should probably call back the others who are looking for you.”

“Shin-chan?” Midorima echoed, face falling.

Takao grinned. “Yup. Shin-chan.”

\-----------

A month later, Takao watched as Midorima set down his rifle and tugged at the blue sweatband around his wrist that was his lucky item for the day. The guy really had his quirks, but Takao couldn’t say he disliked it. He was letting him get away with still calling him Shin-chan, until it had changed from somewhat of a teasing taunt to now an affectionate nickname.

Because Takao had come to understand the shooter, and had fallen pretty deep in want with the miracle. And while he hadn’t admitted it yet, some of the looks that Midorima had openly given him in return kept him hoping that sooner or later they’d proceed past their just-friends stage and into something more.

Midorima was also surprisingly much happier at Shutoku than he’d expected to be. He’d heard nothing from Akashi about his ‘failed’ last job, and didn’t care. Because he was now Takao’s partner, had been accepted unconditionally. And where he failed with team communication, Takao was providing a bridge for him.

So they worked together in tandem, a smooth partnership that only developed on both professional and private levels every day they spent together, and even with the other ex-miracles, who all had started to stick together and had helped to bring all the teams closer. There were very few things left that were unsolved, and if they could only separate Murasakibara from Akashi, they’d be able to put an end to the miracles for good.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there we have the end of Midorima's Part!  
> Just 4 more chapters to go...  
> thanks to all that have given kudos/bookmarked - there is way more than I ever thought ^.^ and to the 40+ subscribers, thank you so much <3 I hope you enjoy reading the rest of it tooo <3 xxxx


	14. Part Five: the giant - Chapter Thirteen

Murasakibara sighed as the man in front of him gave one last gasping breath before collapsing on the floor. This kind of work was distasteful, even for him. But it had to be done. Especially since he was the only one left.

Cleaning up after himself, he left the body and his purple calling card behind, pulling out a snack from his pocket and munching on it. He was just so tired. Aka-chin was mad, had been ever since Kuro-chin had left. Murasakibara didn’t really care, as long as he had enough money to buy his snacks, he’d do whatever work came his way.

So he continued to snack as he headed back home, tired and wondering when his next job would be. Probably not for a week, Aka-chin had been cutting down since everyone else had left.

Not that he really cared anymore. He just wanted to nap. Even if Aka-chin had extra jobs for him, sometimes it was just too much effort. What was the point, anyway, when nothing in particular was to come of these hits? Murasakibara neither knew nor could bring himself to care.

\-----------

 “Hey, Kuroko,” Kagami’s voice broke him out of his daydream. He’d been dozing on the sofa for the last half an hour, taking some extremely rare time just to be lazy. It had been two months since Midorima-kun had also defected, and all of the ex-miracles were still working around their usual schedules to figure out how to bring down Murasakibara. So Kuroko hadn’t had much time for himself, and this was a luxury he rarely allowed himself to indulge in.

“Kagami-kun?” Kuroko was about to sit up, but Kagami was sat on the sofa next to his hip and if he moved then he’d be even closer. He wasn’t sure he could deal with that, considering how sexually desperate he’d become in the last couple of weeks. He’d managed to keep it at a manageable level for so long, yet the lack of anything happening, the lack of release had heat building up in his veins until he was pretty sure he’d just explode one day. He’d tried reducing the pressure a little himself, but it just wasn’t enough. Not when his fantasies were only becoming more intricate and needful by the day.

“You alright?” Kagami asked softly, interrupting his thoughts, and the warm worried eyes sent heat spiralling through him.

“I’m fine,” Kuroko nodded, raising himself slightly without getting too close.

“I have something to tell you,” Kagami said, face somewhat serious. Kuroko frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Kagami shook his head, seeming to realise he’d worried Kuroko slightly. “Honestly. It’s just… one of my close friends is coming over from America for a few weeks, but the accommodation he booked has fucked up, so he asked if he could stay here for a little while. I can’t really say no…”

“That’s fine,” Kuroko nodded, knowing something like this would have happened sooner or later. It was just a matter of time until he was moved back into his cell.

Kagami’s face dropped in relief. “Thanks Kuroko, you’ve really helped me out.”

“When will I move out?” Kuroko asked, looking up at the smiling face.

“Move out?” Kagami echoed, the smile dropping off his face. “No! That’s not what I meant,” he sighed, staring down at him, “He’ll crash on the couch for a week or two. I’m not making you move out, I’d never do that.”

Kuroko had to admit he was surprised. “But I…”

Kagami sighed and gently touched his arm, sending more heat rushing through him. “You’re my friend, Kuroko,” he murmured, and Kuroko couldn’t stop softening against the cushions, even as he secretly wished for more. “As much as Tatsuya is. I’m not going to kick you out. Not unless you want to go.”

“Kagami-kun,” wide blue eyes stared up into red and Kagami wondered if Kuroko knew how much he was affecting him. Damn it, if he just had the courage to lean down and press his lips against those that looked so good…

Kagami offered him a grin, “He arrives in three days. I’m sorry it’s such short notice but…”

“Not at all,” Kuroko shook his head, wondering what he could do to make Kagami lean down and kiss him. But Kuroko didn’t know, and couldn’t initiate it even if he’d known how. There was just too much stuff that Kuroko wasn’t sure of, that he hadn’t experienced. And there was no way he wanted to turn off Kagami with his lack of knowledge.

So he just stayed still, but couldn’t help feel as if he’d lost something when Kagami moved away, barely suppressing his flush as he realised the thoughts that had been running through his head. Kagami didn’t want him like that. Did he? Kuroko didn’t know. And he wanted to.

But he couldn’t work it out right now. He had other things to do, to worry about. Mostly, how to convince Murasakibara to leave Akashi. For while losing all of the Miracle’s still wouldn’t technically be a loss for the Miracle’s leader, it would be enough to stop him for a little while. He hoped.

\-----------

Three days later, Kagami grinned and waved over Tatsuya as he walked out of customs and into Tokyo.

“Tatsuya!”

Himuro grinned and headed over to Kagami, hugging him briefly. “Hey, Taiga. Thanks for coming to pick me up.”

“No worries,” Kagami waved it off. “You got your stuff? My car’s in the short-stay car park.”

Himuro nodded and they headed through the cool air-conditioned airport to the hot, muggy outside.

“Uh, I’ve got another friend staying at mine,” Kagami warned him as they climbed into his car. “Kuroko. He’s cool. But like I said, you’ll be crashing on the sofa. I hope that’s still alright?”

“Of course, Taiga,” Himuro replied smoothly. “Sorry to have messed you about like this. I really appreciate you putting me up.”

“Of course,” Kagami grinned at him as he segued onto the motorway. “What else are brothers for?”

\-----------

They spent the rest of the car journey in pleasant conversation, catching up with whatever they hadn’t spoken about before over the phone.

Himuro had a basic knowledge of the situation with the miracles, but hadn’t been informed of the full circumstances. While Kagami knew it wasn’t exactly the most sensible thing to do, Himuro had agreed to help them while he was here on his holiday with their work, so he explained everything so his friend was up-to-date until they finally reached his apartment.

Kagami let Himuro in, expecting to see Kuroko up and about. Though he wasn’t entirely sure what the blue-haired boy did when he wasn’t around, since every time he’d left Kuroko alone Kise or Aomine or both had always come around to visit.

So he frowned when no-one was in the lounge or kitchen.

“Just dump your stuff in my bedroom for now,” Kagami murmured, “I’ll go see where Kuroko is, introduce you.”

Himuro nodded and carried his bags easily down the hall, remembering the layout from last time he’d crashed here. He smiled as the rooms hadn’t changed; they were still minimalist, containing only the bare essentials.

He spent a couple of minutes rummaging around with his stuff, trying to give Kagami time to find Kuroko. He could tell from the way that his friend’s voice softened on the other male’s name that some feelings were involved. Probably more than some, with the way Kagami thought. Himuro had never really seen him interested in another guy, mostly because Kagami’s head was filled with work. So this was a first. And Himuro was extremely interested in the guy who’d managed to capture Taiga’s interest so deeply.

\-----------

Kuroko woke with a start as there was a sharp knock on the bedroom door. When had he fallen asleep?

He glanced around the room, confused as to where he was. And then realised he was on the floor, which is why all of the angles were different from usual. He sighed and forced himself up into a sitting position, his body cold and stiff from sleeping on hardwood with nothing covering him.

Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t done this before, he told himself as it took him a moment to stand. He’d had far too many sleepless nights to count, and since he hadn’t had a nightmare since he’d moved into Kagami’s he should have only expected one to hit him sooner or later. He’d spent the majority of the night pacing, too afraid to sleep. Normally, he’d go out for a walk, but he hadn’t wanted to disturb Kagami-kun, not when he had to be up so early to collect Himuro-san.

“Kuroko?” Kagami’s voice was muffled through the door. “You in there?”

“Just a second!” he called back, turning to the drawers and rummaging around for a clean shirt with one hand as he tried to pat down his bedhead with the other. “I overslept, sorry!”

“It’s fine,” Kagami assured him through the door. “But Tatsuya’s here. We’ll be in the kitchen, alright? I’ll make lunch.”

“Okay!” Kuroko paused, relieved that he had more time to compose himself. He was well aware he probably looked a wreck – his nightmares always left him shaky. But considering how many people he’d killed, how many nightmares he’d caused, Kuroko had always seen it as only part of a just penance. His sins were probably too great in number to ever be able to atone for all of them.

So he pulled on a clean t-shirt and ducked into the bathroom for twenty seconds to splash cold water on his face, hoping it would make him look a little more awake.

He heard Kagami-kun laugh at something said in a silky, pure voice as he approached the kitchen, and wondered what Kagami-kun’s friend was like. Kagami hadn’t said much, other than that the two of them were like brothers, having practically grown up together and even following in the same lines of work, if in different countries.

“Ah, Kuroko,” Kagami grinned, looking happier than he had for the last few weeks. Kuroko wondered why that annoyed him, when he knew he wasn’t decent company anyway. But, damn it, he wanted to make Kagami-kun happy, wanted to make him laugh. He just was at a total and utter loss as to how. But the grin faded as he looked at the shadow. “Are you alright? You’re so pale…”

“I’m fine,” Kuroko shook his head and stepped into kitchen, feeling the other male’s gaze fall onto him. “It’s nice to meet you,” Kuroko offered his hand out to the other male, sitting at ease on one of the breakfast stools.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Kuroko,” Himuro replied. He was a little… surprised. He’d been sure the guy Kagami would end up liking would be the same as him. Tall, athletic, _strong_. But the guy in front of him… was tiny in comparison. His presence was practically non-existent. What was this?

Kuroko also settled himself onto one of the bar stools, still feeling too shaky to be able to stand for long, as Kagami threw a few pieces of something into a frying pan and a delicious scent started to fill the air.

“I hope you had a good flight?”

“Yes, thank you,” Himuro replied, glancing at Taiga. What was he thinking? How on earth was this guy the phantom? Even Himuro had heard of Akashi’s band of mercenaries in America, and it was ridiculous to think he was sitting right next to one. “My apologies for intruding.”

Kuroko shook his head. “Not at all.”

Himuro offered him a smile and Kuroko granted a small one back, unsure on how to proceed. Luckily for him, Kagami jumped in by placing dishes of stir fry in front of the both of them.

“Eat up.”

They ate in a comfortable silence. However, even though the stir fry, like the rest of Kagami’s cooking, was delicious, Kuroko couldn’t finish it all. His stomach was still churning from the images of the nightmare before, of people he’d met and their desperate pleas for Kuroko to stop, to not take their life. And then the worst, the dead eyes of acceptance, of knowing death was coming and accepting that resistance was futile. Kuroko had always wished, selfishly, that his targets would fight back, that he’d have a reason in his head to justify it as self-defence, as stupid and self-deceptive as that was.

“You sure you’re alright?” Kagami checked, frowning as Kuroko pushed his food away, his eyes going dark.

Kuroko didn’t look at him. “I’m fine,” he replied quietly. “Thank you for the meal.”

Kuroko didn’t want to look at Kagami’s face, didn’t want to see the concern there. Nor did he want to look at the newcomer, who’d put a smile on Kagami’s face, before Kuroko had wiped it off again.

“I… I need to speak with Kise-kun,” he said, knowing that all he wanted to do was get out of the apartment. “If you’d excuse me.”

With that, he left before Kagami and Himuro could catch him. Grabbing the spare key and his phone, he bolted it out of the apartment, weak and shaky.

Sighing now he’d made a fool out of himself, Kuroko headed over to Kise’s apartment, wondering how he’d fix this mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuroko baby <3 also, sorry about the lack of actual Murasakibara/Himuro in this but I find them really hard to writeee so have just sort of returned to KagaKuro because ultimate babies <3
> 
> also, only 3 chapters left! thanks for everyone who's subscribed/bookmarked/commented/kudosed <3 I never thought this would ever reach 2000 hits, but it has! Thank youuuuuu \\(*^.^*)/


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Kagami stared in astonishment as Kuroko booked it out of the apartment.

“So,” Himuro started, “Have you told him you want him yet?”

Kagami’s head snapped back to his friend in disbelief. He was about to deny it, when he knew instantly there was no point. Tatsuya knew him better than anyone. “No,” he sighed. “We’ve been working together for about seven months now, and living together for five. It’s driving me up the wall. But I can’t fuck it up. He’s got nowhere else to go, and I want to make this his home as well as mine.”

Himuro stared at his friend for a long moment. “You’re in deep,” was all he commented, and grinned as Kagami turned red and spluttered, but was unable to deny the statement.

“I can’t tell him yet anyway,” Kagami sighed. “We’ve still got one more miracle to drag away from Akashi.”

“Murasakibara Atsushi,” Himuro murmured in agreement. “Well, I’ll help, in whatever capacity I can. Just let me know.”

“I appreciate it,” Kagami agreed. “We’ll go in tomorrow, introduce you to the others and see if we can come up with a plan of some sort. And, uh,” Kagami rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about Kuroko. I don’t know what’s up with him today.”

Himuro shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m the one intruding, after all.”

“Never,” Kagami replied with a grin. “You know you’re welcome here anytime.”

Himuro grinned back.

“Anyway,” Kagami continued as he picked up the plates and started to wash up. “I’ve got the day off, so wanna go bum around Tokyo? I know a couple of street courts, if you feel like playing basketball.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Himuro agreed.

\-----------------

Almost twelve hours later, Kagami and Himuro were winding down their day playing some street ball at a local court. Kagami was a little worried, having heard nothing from Kuroko at all for the entire day, but figured that since he was with Kise and Aomine he should be fine.

Besides, Kagami hadn’t had the chance to play basketball for a long while and couldn’t help but grin in happiness as Himuro pushed him to his limits. They ended up a tired, panting mess, but the endorphins made Kagami to happy to care. That was, until Kise and Aomine appeared from nowhere on the court.

“Kagamicchi!” Kise said brightly, hopping over to where Kagami and Himuro were taking a quick breather at the end of the court.

“Kise?” Kagami stared at him for a long second. “What are you doing here?”

“Aominecchi and I got bored,” Kise replied. “And he can’t cook any better than I can. So we figured we’d go out for dinner. Then we saw you here.” He grinned brightly. “Who’s your friend?”

“Wh-? Ah, this is Himuro Tatsuya,” Kagami introduced them. “A close friend of mine. Tatsuya, this is Kise and Aomine. Ex-members of the Miracles.”

Aomine narrowed his eyes. “He knows?”

“He’s come to give us a hand,” Kagami explained. “From the US.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Himuro inserted smoothly. “I’ve heard a lot about you all.”

Kagami rolled his eyes.

“Where’s Tetsu?” Aomine asked, realising that the shadow wasn’t there.

Kagami frowned. “He left this morning saying he was going to see you two.”

“We were in all day and he never came,” Kise said, smile vanishing to be replaced by a confused frown. “We weren’t even doing anything this morning so he could have interrupted us anytime.”

“What?” Kagami frowned. “So where the hell is he?”

\--------------

Kuroko had been halfway to Kise’s that morning when he’d realised that he just wanted some time alone more than anything.

Because although he had his privacy, even when Kagami was around, he just needed some time to think, when no one was around to see him fall apart.

So, instead of going to his friends, and hoping Kagami wouldn’t come looking for him, he headed out to the spot he’d always gone to when he needed time away from everything. It was a park on the very edges of Tokyo and it was usually almost deserted.

But there was a small lake in the middle that Kuroko could lose himself staring at, which was what he was doing now. He’d barely realised he was trembling until he ran a hand through his hair and it shook.

The nightmares usually didn’t affect him so badly. But it had been a long time since he’d had them, ever since before he’d been shot and caught by Seirin. He hadn’t been so naïve as to think they’d never return, but at the same time had hoped that with what he was doing, with him trying to help, he’d be able to put some of the past behind him and make up for what he’d done.

But Kuroko guessed it was useless. He’d just simply done too much, hurt too many people, to be able to ever fully atone. Even with everything he did in the future, it could never make up for the past.

But what else could he do? He wasn’t strong enough nor did he feel guilty enough to kill himself. Plus what would that do? It wouldn’t bring anyone else back. Yet he didn’t want to have to live with these nightmares forever. Didn’t want to have to remember every face he’d ever taken from the world whenever he closed his eyes.

But maybe that was his punishment. He’d never be able to forget, and never be able to forgive himself for what he’d done. And he’d be haunted forever.

Shit. He sighed, tilting his head back and staring at the sky, which had suddenly become dark. What time was it?

He pulled out his phone to check the time, but exactly as he did that it started to buzz in his hand.

Jumping in surprise, he pressed green and brought it to his ear.

“Hello?” he asked, surprised at how hoarse his voice was.

“Kuroko? Where are you?” Kagami’s worried voice came down the line.

“I’m… uh, I’m in a park,” he admitted, “I just… I needed to think.” Kuroko was feeling shaky and alone, and had no idea why he was admitting this to Kagami-kun.

“Are you alright?” Kagami’s voice was low and concerned and Kuroko had the brief thought that he didn’t deserve the taller man’s concern, his kindness.

“I…” Kuroko couldn’t lie. Not to the man who’d taken him in, who was giving him a second chance at life that he didn’t deserve. His stomach growled and he felt his heart catching in his throat.

Kagami said nothing, just letting Kuroko work through what he wanted to say.

“I don’t know,” he eventually answered honestly.

Kagami sighed quietly. “I’m with Kise, Aomine and Himuro, playing basketball. We were gonna go out for dinner maybe after a couple of games. Do you want to come and join us?”

Kuroko considered that for a long moment. “I don’t think I can,” he replied quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine!” Kagami assured him. “Honestly, don’t worry about it. Just come home whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll be back tonight,” Kuroko promised quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“As long as you’re safe,” Kagami replied quietly, and made Kuroko feel a hundred times worse for doing this. “Be careful, okay?”

“I will,” Kuroko replied, and realised that his other arm had come around his stomach as if to protect or comfort himself.

“Alright,” Kagami murmured, his voice still gentle. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Later,” Kuroko agreed and waited for a second before the dial tone indicated Kagami had ended the call.

He sighed and dropped his head back against the bench, realising he was freezing, having only left the apartment in a thin jacket.

Why was Kagami so understanding? Kuroko was grateful for it, even as his stomach hurt with everything unsaid.

With a sigh, he got up and started to head home, so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed that someone had been watching him for the last two hours, and that they were now following him back home.

\-----------

Murasakibara watched Kuro-chin as he tipped his head back, looking exhausted. Was the ‘right’ side really that tiring? He’d been sitting there for longer than an hour, and Murasakibara had almost run out of snacks watching him, which was irritating.

But just as he was about to leave, Kuro-chin received a phone call and his expression changed even more, revealing more emotions than Murasakibara had ever seen from the blue-haired phantom. He didn’t particularly like Kuro-chin as an assassin, he was far too weak and he had a way of forcing his morals onto everyone else which also pissed him off, making him want to crush the other male. But to stand up to Aka-chin took guts and Murasakibara could appreciate that.

Not that he particularly cared about defying Aka-chin anymore. The loss of the rest of the miracles had proved that their leader couldn’t quite predict everything, nor do anything to prevent it even if it pissed him off.

Kuro-chin got up and started to head somewhere else. Murasakibara was surprised to see that the small male’s body language, usually so neutral and often indifferent, was now that of a man defeated – shoulders hunched and practically curled up in on himself.

What had made the usually unflappable Kuro-chin change so much? Murasakibara felt like he understood in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t quite process it just yet.

He wondered if the other miracles had done something. From what he’d heard, they were all still socialising with each other outside of their jobs, the teams they’ve joined often collaborating on the more difficult jobs. Which, of course, had decreased with Kise-chin, Mine-chin and Mido-chin on the respective teams, so collaborating had become less necessary. But the ex-Miracles were still inclined to stick together, even now, it seemed.

Murasakibara had the fleeting thought of wondering what would happen if he joined them. There wasn’t much point. He didn’t get along with the rest of the team particularly, so wouldn’t exactly fit in with the rest of the group, especially with the new bonds they’d created.

Plus, what was the point of joining law enforcement, when Murasakibara had crushed so many of their officers? It was extremely unlikely that anyone would take him in. _Not_ that he cared, he thought almost defiantly, watching Kuro-chin head into the train station. It was late, which meant there wouldn’t be another train from either platform for at least another ten minutes, so Murasakibara stepped into a convenience store and grabbed some snacks, his stomach practically growling since he hadn’t eaten for an hour now.

Even though Murasakibara barely took the time and effort to follow Kuro-chin in a way that was undetectable, he wondered if he should have even bothered when the ex-shadow stepped onto the train still in a sort of daze, barely checking his surroundings as he took an empty seat away from most of the other members of the public and stared into space as the train continued on its course.

He got off twenty minutes later and headed out of the station, close to the heart of Tokyo. Murasakibara followed him, being much more careful now they were in busy areas, aware that Kuro-chin could possibly be meeting any of the other ex-miracles and they’d spot him.

He wondered if they’d even try to recruit him to the other side, if they’d try to get him away from Akashi. If they were intending to break down the entire group, it was somewhat of a necessity. But Murasakibara wasn’t exactly close enough to any of them for them to ask him and for him to agree for the sake of friendship or whatever shitty reasons they used for their own justification.

But then again, neither was he all that impressed with Aka-chin anymore, so if they offered him a good enough reward, a better pay check, he might as well accept. He didn’t particularly care what he did or who he worked for, so long as he got the payment he wanted and could generally do what he liked without too much interference from anyone else.

So, he figured he’d wait and see if they came for him. He still respected Aka-chin, could respect that he was a better assassin than him, but as a person there were better people out there that Murasakibara would prefer to associate with. Because there was little meaning to being called a ‘miracle’ when they were down to the last two of six. And if another, better job offer came along, he’d probably be more than tempted to take it.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Kuroko stared up at the lights on in Kagami’s apartment for ten minutes before he could muster up the courage to go inside. He felt bad for possibly worrying the redhead, especially when his friend had only just arrived. It hadn’t been his intention at all to mess things up this way.

But when he walked in only Kagami was around, sitting on the sofa watching TV with a can of beer in his hand. His head turned as Kuroko shut the door quietly behind him and relief suffused his features.

“Kuroko,” Kagami sighed in relief as the blue-haired boy finally made it back a little after twelve. “Welcome home.”

Kuroko stared at him for a long moment, before nodding and taking a hesitant step forward. “I… I’m sorry for disappearing today,” he whispered quietly, stopping a couple of metres away from Kagami and just stopping himself from shaking again. “I…”

“It’s alright,” Kagami shook his head and gestured for Kuroko to sit. He did, hesitantly, and Kagami seemed to relax a little further. “As long as you’re alright. But, you know, if you need to talk about anything… if you want to talk about anything, you can talk to me.”

Kuroko met earnest red eyes and felt himself start shaking, unable to stop it any longer. “I…” his throat closed up and he closed his eyes to escape honest red ones, hands clenching together so tight it hurt.

But his eyes flew open again five seconds later, landing on his hands which Kagami was gently pulling apart.

“Or if you just want to sit,” Kagami offered quietly, “And watch TV with me, that’s cool too. I want to help you, Kuroko.”

“ _Why?_ ” the question was ripped out of Kuroko’s throat, finally breaking under the other man’s unflinching compassion. “I’m a _killer_ , Kagami-kun. I’ve taken more lives than I care to count. Why would you ever want to help someone like me?”

Kagami stared for a long moment, everything finally making sense. “Nightmares?” he guessed, and watched as Kuroko nodded brokenly, thin frame shuddering.

Kagami sighed and shrugged off his jacket, wrapping it around the small shoulders in front of him. “You’re freezing,” he explained gently when Kuroko looked confused. “And you were a killer,” he agreed quietly, not willing to lie for the sake of comfort. “You might have to kill again, so you’re technically still a killer. But not every murderer is in the wrong,” Kagami sighed. “Even though it might seem that way. I’m a killer, I’ve murdered people. It might make me a bad person in the eyes of most, but in the end I did it to help others.”

“But I didn’t,” Kuroko whispered. “I just killed whoever was assigned to me.”

“But you, and the rest of the miracles, have all confirmed that you only killed those who needed to die, or who wanted to,” he added, remembering Kanako Tanaka. “They would have spent the rest of their lives in prison if caught anyway. You were particularly forceful of this Kuroko, you know you were. What you did wasn’t right, but it wasn’t wrong either.”

Blue eyes hesitantly met his. “I don’t know how you can be so understanding,” Kuroko admitted.

“I’ve been where you are,” Kagami said simply. “Maybe not as intensely, granted, but I know how it feels to take a life. To have them haunt you. And maybe you can’t fix everything that you’ve done. But you’re trying to make up for it,” Kagami added, hands squeezing Kuroko’s gently. “You’ve helped us catch a hell of a lot of bad guys, and have put yourself at risk in quite a lot of the missions. I want to help you make up for it. I want you to be happy.”

Kuroko stared at Kagami, heart pounding. This man… was too perfect to be real. Kuroko honestly couldn’t comprehend the sheer heart that this man had.

“Just talk to me, if you need to,” Kagami offered gently, losing himself in sky-blue and not caring one jot. “I’ll do whatever I can.”

Kuroko felt his heart skip a beat and his throat close. “Kagami-kun,” he started, his hands sweaty and stomach in slick knots. But he had to tell him. It was now or never. “I… I li-.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Himuro called from the bedroom doorway. “But there’s someone watching the apartment.”

Kuroko pulled his hands back and watched Kagami frown and turn to his friend. Kuroko wondered why the other male was coming out of Kagami’s bedroom in his pyjamas, ruffling down a mild bedhead. Were they dating? Or just sleeping together? Kuroko felt his stomach tighten again and almost visibly pulled back, needing space. Thank god he hadn’t said what he’d been about to and made a fool of himself.

“What?” Kagami murmured.

“There’s someone watching the apartment,” Himuro repeated. “I don’t know who it is, but he’s tall and has purple hair…”

“Purple?” Kuroko’s head snapped up. Why on earth was Murasakibara-kun _here_?

Himuro nodded, sharp eyes landing on blue. “Yeah. You know him?”

“It’s Murasakibara-kun,” Kuroko explained softly. “The last miracle.”

“Shame,” Himuro sighed. “He’s quite hot as well.”

“Tatsuya!” Kagami scolded, flushing red.

Himuro grinned back at him. “What? I can have my daydreams.”

Kuroko barely held in his confusion. So they weren’t dating? Why was he so pleased with that? He understood some relief, considering his own feelings for the redhead, but almost feeling weak with it was somewhat pathetic.

Shaking it off, he didn’t have time to think about that as Murasakibara was a much more pressing issue.

“What do we do?” he murmured. “I don’t know how to pull him away from Akashi-kun. But this is probably our best chance, if I could just speak to him.”

“Well I’ll go fetch him,” Himuro said brightly, ducking back into the bedroom and coming out a minute later in combat gear as Kuroko watched in shock. “And you can think something up.”

“I don’t know if any other team would take him in,” Kuroko murmured, feeling the tension creep up on him. “I can’t just expect any of the other teams to say yes without prior warning.”

“Well then, if you can persuade him, my Japanese team will take him in,” Himuro waved it off almost casually as he walked through the lounge.

“Huh?” Kuroko could barely express himself, absolutely dumbfounded.

Himuro shot him a sweet smile. “Don’t worry, Kuroko,” he assured him. “You just persuade him and I’ll deal with the rest.”

\----------

Murasakibara yawned as one of the men he didn’t know left the apartment Kuro-chin had entered and headed for his hiding place. He didn’t really care. He had his weapons, and this other man was _small_ , easily crushable.

“You must be Murasakibara Atsushi,” a silky, smooth voice came from the shadows.

Murasakibara chewed and swallowed his chocolate before answering. “And you are?” he replied, turning away from his lookout post into Kuroko’s other friend’s apartment and meeting the eyes of a black-haired male with a small mole under his right eye and his fringe covering most of his left.

“Himuro Tatsuya,” the black-haired male replied. “Kuroko wants to talk to you. Just talk, I promise.”

“Not interested,” Murasakibara yawned. “He’s got nothing to offer me.”

“What do you want?”

Murasakibara eyed the other man carefully. There was something about him that was efficiently deadly. Not quite on the level of the miracles, but hinting at it. Though he was already at his peak, and probably would never pass through the door that led to being a miracle. Murasakibara’s interest rose a notch, but not enough for him to care.

“Why do you want to know?”

“I want to know if I can offer it to you,” Himuro replied smoothly. “If you’d come and work with me. But I’d need to know your terms first.”

“What makes you think I’ll leave Aka-chin?” Murasakibara replied, ripping open another packet of snacks.

Himuro shrugged. “I don’t know if you will or not. But if you would think about it, I’m sure it would save you a lot of time and effort and trouble. Kuroko and the other miracles are trying to come up with a plan to persuade you to their side anyway,” he explained. “And it’ll be troublesome to try and avoid them.”

Murasakibara yawned. “I’ll just lay low.”

“But they won’t give up,” Himuro leant against the wall, giving off the illusion of total confidence, as if he believed he was totally safe. He was a master at illusions, even Murasakibara was having a hard time seeing underneath to the utter perfection of his stance that would have him ready for combat in less than a second. “Why put yourself through all that?”

Murasakibara yawned. “You have a point,” he agreed. “But how do I know you won’t lock me up?”

“My word,” Himuro offered, “is all I have. But I’m the international coordinator for Yosen, one of the best private contractor teams up north in Akita. I’ll offer you a place similar to what the other miracles have taken, so you’ll be able to take your own jobs when and where you want them. I’ll have to accompany you for a while, of course, to make sure you’re doing your job properly, but if you do, we’ll pay you twice what you’re earning under Akashi.”

“I don’t care much about that,” Murasakibara yawned. “Money is money. Easily gained, easily lost.”

“Then what can I offer you?”

Murasakibara wondered how long it had taken Himuro to perfect that silky voice. It was almost as persuasive Akashi’s, but without the harsh undertone Murasakibara had come to hear in Akashi’s voice.

He shrugged. “Not much, evidently,” he turned back and looked through the glass where Kuroko was sat on the sofa, frowning anxiously into a mug. “I don’t particularly like my job. I’m good at it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get excited and do whatever I can. I’ll do the bare minimum, and you’ll have to deal with that.”

“I can accept that,” Himuro replied, seemingly unhesitant.

“Why do you even want me?”

“Even in America I heard of the Generation of Miracles,” Himuro sighed, pushing off the wall to stand upright. “If I had one for my team… Yosen would dominate the north, and we could work our way downwards. Your skills are unparalleled, and even if you don’t work well with the team we could use your abilities.”

Murasakibara sighed. “I’ll try it,” he accepted, “Aka-chin’s lost control of the miracles anyway. It’s only so long before he looks for a new group to control.”

Himuro grinned. “Very well, Atsushi. It’s going to be a pleasure to work with you.”

“Hmm,” Murasakibara answered by picking up yet another snack.

“I also have a favour,” Himuro started silkily. “I’ll need to crash wherever you’re staying for a night or two.”

“Hmm?” Murasakibara narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Taiga and Kuroko have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Murasakibara glanced back at the other apartment, to see the other male – Taiga – giving Kuro-chin a mug of something. He wondered exactly what Kuro-chin was doing with the other male, what they meant to each other.

“Fine,” he yawned. “But I’ve only got a sofa spare.”

“That’s fine,” Himuro agreed. “I’ll need to go back and tell Taiga and Kuroko. Do you want to come with me?”

“No point,” Murasakibara shook his head. “I’ll wait outside.”

“Alright,” Himuro agreed.

\--------

It was surprisingly easy. Kuroko had been more than surprised, but relief had clearly relaxed him from head to toe and he offered his first genuine smile to Himuro, thanking him quietly.

“Of course,” Himuro shrugged. “It’s more my gain than yours. And on that note, I’m also going to stay somewhere else. You two need to sort whatever this tension is out,” he gestured between them. “Taiga, I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ll make sure we meet up before I head back north, or back to the US, wherever the job takes me.”

“Alright, Tatsuya,” Kagami got up and hugged his friend briefly. “Thanks.”

“Don’t fuck it up,” Himuro murmured, glancing at Kuroko. “I don’t quite know what’s going on between you two, but I’ve got the feeling your emotions aren’t entirely one-sided.”

Kagami hesitated, also glancing at Kuroko with longing. “I’ll do my best,” he agreed with a grin.

Himuro laughed. “Well, see you later.”

“See you. And thanks again.”

“Well, what else are brothers for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there we have the end of part five! thanks to the 52 people who've subscribed, I really hope this doesn't disappoint you (though I'm not totally happy with it atm tbh...) and just the epilogue to go... though I might add and extra extra epilogue just because shipping...  
> anyways, final (maybe?) chapter will be up next week ^.^  
> kudos & comments always appreciated, even if I can't get back to comments right now because JLPT prep is ruining all my plans... <3


	17. Epilogue: the Emperor

Kuroko woke in a cold sweat, his heart racing. Goddamnit. Soft screams still echoed in his ears and he pressed his face into the pillow to try and muffle them.

“Kuroko?” a soft knock at the door startled him.

He took a second to compose himself and remember where he was. After Himuro and Murasakibara had left last night, he and Kagami had quickly retreated to bed, both exhausted. Kuroko had never got around to finishing his sentence, and constantly found his heart in his throat, blocking his words before they could come out.

“Kuroko?” Kagami’s worried voice came again. “Are you alright?”

“I…” Kuroko called back, but faltered before he could say anything. The door opened and Kuroko saw Kagami’s silhouette in the dark room as he gently made his way over to the bed.

“I heard you cry out,” Kagami murmured softly, and Kuroko felt the end of the bed dip under taller boy’s weight as he sat down. “Another nightmare?”

Kuroko nodded, and before he could stop himself he found the words spilling past his lips. They overflowed without conscious thought, his arms wrapping around his knees as he detailed every hit, every murder he’d ever done, every ghost that still haunted him, that came to him in his dreams.

And Kagami just sat there, not judging, not interrupting, just letting Kuroko get everything out until he was out of breath and exhausted. His body went limp, as if he no longer had the energy to even sit as his words poured out, his heart along with them.

“I’m sorry,” Kagami murmured when it was all out and hung in the air between them. Kuroko hid his face, not wanting to see rejection now, of all times. “I’m sorry that you had to do those things to live. But you didn’t really have a choice. You made a living from it, and now you’re fixing that. Kuroko…” Kagami hesitated, and Kuroko froze as he felt the redhead move, coming closer. He held himself as still as possible as a warm hand landed on top of his head and gently patted him. “Kuroko, it’s alright. I’m still here.”

He looked up, heart in his eyes, and saw the warmth in Kagami’s eyes shining down on him as always.

“Why?” Kuroko whispered. “Why are you still here? Why haven’t you left?”

“Because…” Kagami sighed, but couldn’t admit it when Kuroko was so vulnerable. When he’d just entrusted all of his secrets to him. He couldn’t take advantage of him, not now. “Because we’re friends,” he reminded him. “And I want to make you happy. I’m not leaving any time soon,” he murmured gently.

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko sighed, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

“You need to sleep,” Kagami murmured softly, gently ruffling his hair again.

Kuroko couldn’t argue, exhaustion pulling at his muscles. “Would…” he closed his eyes again, unable to ask whilst meeting those warm eyes that offered him the world. “Would you stay here? Just until I fall asleep?”

Kagami blinked in surprise. He’d never imagined that Kuroko would ever ask him anything like that, but he couldn’t help but feel kind of… _happy_ , that Kuroko would trust him so much, would even want him so close while he was so vulnerable.

“Of course,” Kagami agreed gently, giving the blue hair another gentle stroke and meeting blue eyes again. “As long as you need.”

Kuroko nodded and lay back down, feeling his heart calm and a warm feel of safety overwhelm him as Kagami stayed close. He was still in faint shock that he hadn’t been rejected yet, that Kagami, no matter what, had stuck by him. Even detailing his hits, his murders, the redhead hadn’t been pushed away. And Kuroko couldn’t help but be filled with relief.

Kagami sat still, watching Kuroko as his eyes fluttered shut, as his breathing deepened and he slid into sleep, amazed and relieved that Kuroko had been able to confide in him, that the blue-haired shadow trusted him this much. He only hoped that when he finally got the courage to explain his real feelings, he wouldn’t lose everything that he’d gained.

\--------

Kuroko woke the next morning ridiculously warm. He rolled over, only to feel a heavy weight on his waist holding him down.

Opening his eyes in shock, he froze as he looked directly at a sleeping Kagami’s face.

What?

He closed his eyes again as he remembered asking Kagami to stay with him until he fell asleep. Flushing red, he wondered how the redhead had ended up essentially spooning him.

Not that Kuroko minded, in any way. And not only because Kagami’s presence had clearly stopped the nightmares from returning. The warmth and safety of him… Kuroko never wanted to let it go. And Kagami trusted him to get this close, despite everything that he’d blurted out last night.

Kuroko sighed quietly and tried to stay still, not wanting to wake Kagami, not after all that the redhead had done for him. And then he couldn’t stop a smile. Because not only had he been accepted, but somehow, magically, Himuro-kun had managed to pull Murasakibara-kun away from Akashi-kun. The last Miracle had fallen away from the Emperor’s rule. They’d done it.

Kagami sighed in his sleep, arm pulling Kuroko closer. Gong willingly, Kuroko couldn’t help himself and tucked his head into the redhead’s neck, inhaling the warm smell of him. How had he ended up this lucky?

The only thing that could ever make this better was if Kuroko could find the courage to confess from somewhere, and for Kagami to take it well. He sighed silently, he had no idea if that was even possible.

But five minutes later, Kagami stirred and opened his eyes, looking directly into startled blue.

“Kuroko? Wh-What?”

“Good morning, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko whispered his greeting quietly, not wanting to startle the redhead and ruin the moment. “I… I wanted to say thank you, for everything you did last night. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“No need,” Kagami replied gruffly, feeling his cheeks tinge pink as he realised how close he was to the blue-haired shadow. “You repaid me just by trusting me enough to tell me.”

It was Kuroko’s turn for his cheeks to turn a little pink and for him to look away, a little embarrassed. “Still,” he murmured, “if there’s anything I can do.”

“I’ll let you know,” Kagami murmured, his stomach bursting into flutters as he felt Kuroko’s hands on his chest.

“Thank you,” Kuroko nodded softly, offering a small smile to the kind redhead.

Kagami grinned as best as he could. “Hey, Kuroko,” he swallowed, suddenly feeling a need to just tell the blue-haired boy everything he felt and more.

Kuroko frowned at the tenseness in Kagami’s voice. “Yes, Kagami-kun?”

“I-.” He cut off, hand flying to his cheek as it suddenly stung, springing back from Kuroko. “Shit. _What_?” He looked astounded as blood welled under his fingers, as his head snapped to the doorway and he saw a redhead standing there, a gun aimed his way and a dark expression on his face.

“Akashi-kun,” Kuroko murmured, sitting up, suddenly cold. What did the Emperor want with him?

“Tetsuya,” the smooth voice filled the room. “I’ve come to congratulate you. You’ve managed to disband the Generation of Miracles very smoothly. I’m very impressed.”

“It wasn’t to impress you,” Kuroko replied coolly.

“I know,” Akashi agreed pleasantly, and Kagami found his blood running cold at the dark look in the stranger’s eyes. It was somewhat… insane. “But remember this. You have not won. You cannot beat me. I already have another team operating smoothly, so bear this in mind if you choose to cross my path again. I will grant you your freedom, but only because of the work you have done for me so far. This is as far as our friendship will stretch. If you test me any further, I will be forced to punish you.”

Kagami felt rage take over, but a look at Kuroko and blue eyes sending him a clear warning settled him down again and he just waited as Kuroko worked out the best course of action.

“I understand,” he murmured carefully. “Though if my job becomes one where I have to investigate you or your team members, I will not hesitate to do it.”

“I would expect no less,” Akashi replied silkily, “But remember that you will always lose. It’s what you get for assigning yourself to a weaker team.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Kuroko murmured softly as Akashi disappeared from sight. Kuroko let out a shaky breath and looked over at Kagami, who was finding an old t-shirt to press to his wound.

“Let me,” Kuroko murmured, climbing out of bed and reaching for Kagami’s wrist.

Kagami, vaguely in shock, let himself be led into the bathroom and pushed to sit on the side of the bath while Kuroko rummaged around for a first-aid kit.

“ _That_ was Akashi?” he asked as Kuroko came back with an antiseptic wipe and a suitable plaster.

“Yes,” Kuroko nodded, kneeling in front of him and dabbing the thin slice with the wipe. “But I believe that was his final farewell. He shouldn’t seek me out at all in the future now.”

Kagami sighed. “He’s insane. I don’t know how you put up with that.”

Kuroko shrugged. “It was all I knew for a long time.”

Kagami leant forward as Kuroko finished placing the bandage over his cheek and caught his wrist with gentle fingers.

“Thank you,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the palm of Kuroko’s hand without thinking.

Both males flushed, but Kuroko didn’t move and neither did Kagami as they both just stared at each other in silence.

“Kuroko,” Kagami sighed, pulling him closer carefully with his hold on the thin wrist. “I have something to tell you.”

Kuroko frowned, his heart starting to thud in his chest. What did _that_ mean?

“Well, it’s more of a request,” Kagami admitted, feeling his face flush red as Kuroko just watched him in confusion. “See… I… I like you,” Kagami forced it out in one go, his heart pounding in his ears as he looked away from Kuroko, unable to pull up the courage to look at the smaller male’s reaction. “And I’ve spoken to Riko and she’s going to offer you a permanent job so you don’t need to worry about that, but I… I don’t want us to just be partners at work, you know? If it’s too awkward for you, or you don’t feel the same, that’s fine but-.”

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko sighed, touching his face and watching with some amazement as the redhead instantly fell silent, red eyes meeting his again. “I haven’t had any of this kind of experience,” Kuroko admitted. “So you’ll have to take it slow for me.”

Kagami stared for a long second, disbelieving.

“But I like you too,” Kuroko finished, almost shyly as his eyes looked down.

Kagami exhaled the breath he’d been holding for the last couple of minutes and couldn’t stop the stupid smile spreading across his face.

“Okay,” he agreed quietly, taking Kuroko’s hands in his and pressing a gentle kiss to the backs of his fingers. “We’ll go as slow as you need.”

Kuroko smiled back, feeling happiness flood up inside him until he could have cried.

“Can I kiss you, though?” Kagami asked hesitantly, and Kuroko’s stomach flipped.

With a shy nod giving the redhead permission, Kagami gently pulled him closer, so Kuroko was still standing over him as he was perched on the bath. He was being so careful, and the warmth in Kuroko’s veins heated up another notch. Wondering how to do this, he let Kagami’s hands – so _warm_ – cup his face and bring him closer. His eyes closed automatically as hot lips brushed against his, barely any pressure but so much heat. Kuroko felt his heart swell, even as he lost it to Kagami-kun.

He’d never, at the start of all this, thought that this was where he’d end up. In the arms of a man who’d brought him back to life, who’d made him believe that he _could_ have a life worth living. Especially one where the miracles had not only disbanded, but were still with him, still friends with him, and all were happy.

He could barely believe it as Kagami’s arms wrapped around him and brought him against the heat of his body, as their lips pressed together more firmly, as his heart was utterly lost.

But he’d finally grabbed onto this new life with two hands, and he was never letting go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's the end of that!
> 
> thanks to the 56 subscribers, everyone who left comments/kudos and everyone who checked on this story because they liked it ^.^
> 
> I really think I want to do an epilogue to the epilogue, with all these babies like 6 months on, but I am crazy busy with JLPT (kill me now) and final-week-of-uni-and-essays-over-Christmas prep so it probs won't be for a couple of weeks at least. that's if guys want it? let me know in the comments?
> 
> <3 x


	18. Epilogue #2 - 6 months on

“Hey, Kuroko,” Kuroko groaned and pressed his face into the pillow as a gentle hand shook his shoulder. “You need to get up.”

Kagami had found out – a month into living and sleeping together – that Kuroko, despite his ability to wake up at any time of day as and when needed, was _not_ a morning person. If it wasn’t necessary for him to get up, he would stay in bed until it was necessary for him to wake.

“Kuroko,” Kagami sighed, and Kuroko’s eyes flew open as the redhead easily tore the covers off him and lifted him into his arms.

“What?” Kuroko asked, a little grumpily.

Kagami smiled softly and tilted his head down to give his lover a quick kiss on the lips. “The match is in an hour. You need to get ready.”

Kuroko sighed, turning his head into Kagami’s shoulder. “Fine,” he sighed. “Put me down.”

But instead, Kagami carried him into the kitchen where Kuroko’s mood perked a little when he saw breakfast already prepared. He was sat down at the table and dug in, pleased as he was every day that Kagami could cook so well.

It had been six months since the two of them and Seirin had managed to bring down the Generation of Miracles. It had been relatively eventful, especially since Kuroko had been fully employed by Seirin, and had also become Kagami’s partner in every sense of the word.

Kagami, true to his word, had taken it as slow as Kuroko had needed, and had been gentler than Kuroko had ever expected of the redhead. They were now full partners, and Kuroko never wanted to be parted from his light, from the man who gave joy and happiness to him in every aspect of his life.

His nightmares had also decreased in number. He never had them when Kagami slept by his side, and had made it a policy to do so at all times when possible. Kagami had helped him – slowly but surely – feel _clean_ again, and though Kuroko knew he would probably never make up for all of the wrongdoings in his life, he was contributing to make his slice of the world a better place. And that surely counted for something.

Kuroko’s brain was full of these thoughts as he dressed and found his basketball shoes on autopilot, Kagami waiting for him patiently as he cleaned up the breakfast dishes. The redhead, miraculously, was also content with his blue-haired shadow, and made no show of hiding it. Kuroko was loved, and he knew it.

\--------

When they got to the court, only one pair was already there, and they weren’t exactly playing basketball. Midorima had Takao pinned against one of the hoop posts as they engaged in activities that Kagami would never have believed Midorima would have been willing to engage in outside of the privacy of his own bedroom. But as a bandaged hand slipped down the back of his lover’s basketball shorts and Takao moaned a little wantonly Kagami realised he had been very wrong in his assumption.

“This is awkward,” Kuroko said quietly, fingers sliding into Kagami’s and squeezing.

Kagami nodded, his face flaming, unsure of how to announce their presence without embarrassing anyone any further.

Somewhat luckily, Takao’s eyes opened and then widened as he noticed the two of them standing at the gate to the court.

“Shin-chan,” he murmured, leaning away from his lover slowly. “We shouldn’t do this here.”

Midorima stood up straight, flushing as he realised how far he’d gone. “We’ll continue this at home,” he murmured, and Takao felt his body flood with heat at the unexpected and unusual words coming from his green-haired tsundere.

Takao grinned. “I like this plan,” he agreed, gently pulling away. “But we have company right now.”

Midorima flushed as he turned around and noticed Kuroko and Kagami watching the two of them. Unnecessarily adjusting his glasses, he greeted them as they stepped onto the court.

They greeted him back, dropping their bags in the usual spot and Kagami pulled the basketball out of his bag, suddenly brimming with energy as he practised a few shoots.

Kuroko watched him with his usual blank expression, but with fond eyes as Takao went to join Kagami and Midorima stood on the side lines, also watching his lover.

“It appears Akashi’s base of operations has relocated to Kyoto,” Midorima murmured unexpectedly.

Kuroko sighed silently. “I have heard the rumours,” he agreed. “Has he contacted you?”

“No. I doubt we will hear from him again. He seems to be taking precautions so he won’t have to deal with us in the future.”

This time Kuroko sighed aloud. “I am not surprised,” he admitted, “but I do find it a shame.”

Midorima shrugged. “He will do as he likes. We normal men, no matter how skilled, will never be able to touch the minds of the Emperor.”

Kuroko nodded in acknowledgement of the green-haired male’s words, but was interrupted from continuing on the conversation any further with the arrival of Himuro and Murasakibara.

“Sorry we’re late,” Himuro murmured smoothly as he dumped his bag next to Murasakibara’s at the edge of the court. “Atsushi was making some snacks for mid-game.”

“Thank you, Murasakibara-kun,” Kuroko glanced up at the purple-haired giant. He had been the most reluctant member of their little basketball games, but after much persuading on Himuro’s part, he’d eventually agreed to participate. The two of them had become extremely close, and Kuroko suspected that Murasakibara’s attraction to Himuro had also been a factor in his agreement to defect from Akashi’s group, though the giant would never admit it. And  though he rarely showed that he was interested, Murasakibara was actually quite skilled at basketball, surprising them all the first time they had played, with his height, long limbs and unexpectedly fast reflexes, he was an excellent defender. Himuro, likewise, was skilful, though not as naturally gifted as most of the others.

All eight of them, including Kise and Aomine, were surprisingly good at the sport, with their skills in the field seemingly translating across to skills in the game. For example, like Midorima’s sniper shots, his 3 pointers were a thing of perfect accuracy. Aomine’s general speed was a great aid to whichever team he played on, along with generally fast reflexes and a surprising love of the game, though his self-centredness was sometimes a deterrent as he was determined to do everything on his own. Kise’s ability to copy most moves also left Aomine and Kagami with real competition as he finally had got into the stride of things. And Kuroko himself, his lack of presence allowed him to move around the court relatively invisibly, surprising everyone with passes, though he was quite awful at other moves.

They’d all enjoyed playing against each other ever since Kagami had introduced the sport to Kise and Aomine, and had made a monthly game a new tradition, as it were. Though it wasn’t perfect, with some of them being called away for missions or other work-related issues, everyone understood and just did their best to make it to their games. As such, they’d all grown closer, and teamwork between all of their different employers had also increased.

As Kise and Aomine appeared to be arriving late – as usual – the six of them started a three-on-three game, with Murasakibara assisting Kagami and Kuroko, and Himuro aiding Takao and Midorima. It was a close game, with Midorima’s shots going past Murasakibara’s defence, but Kagami’s dunks also managing to get past Himuro and Takao with the aid of Kuroko’s passes, though against Takao it was surprisingly difficult, the Shuutoku member having excellent perception of who was where on the court.

It was as Kagami made a particularly impressive dunk over Himuro’s head that Kise and Aomine finally arrived, bickering as usual. Kise had impressive love-bites decorating his neck and was bitching about them, which Aomine was waving off with a lazy smile.

“You liked it when I put them there,” he retorted as he dropped his bag by everyone else’s, and left Kise flushing as he jogged onto the court and greeted everyone.

Kise rolled his eyes and followed, grinning as he came to stop next to Kuroko.

“’Morning, Kurokocchi! Sorry we’re late again. That one won’t wake up,” Kise rolled his eyes, even as the affection was clearly laced through his voice.

“It’s fine, Kise-kun,” Kuroko shook his head. “We’re used to it by now.”

“So mean!” Kise wailed, but his eyes were sparkling with joy.

They played until everyone was exhausted but for Aomine and Kagami, who’d found extra energy from somewhere to go one-on-one. It was a common occurrence, and the long-running score was constantly fluctuating as to who was in the lead by just a couple of points. At the moment, Kagami was leading with 136 points to Aomine’s 132. At the end of their matches today, they were back at a tie with 168 each.

“Ha!” Aomine collapsed next to Kise, panting even as he sneered in a semi-friendly manner at Kagami. “I beat you today, Bakagami.”

“Still not overtaken me though, _Ahomine_ ,” Kagami snapped back, sitting next to Kuroko and pulling the shorter boy onto his lap. He rested his head on Kuroko’s shoulder for a minute as he tried to regain his breath, bringing the smaller boy closer.

The other couples were all also sitting together, Takao next to Midorima but barely touching, the green-haired shooter clearly still on his guard from earlier. Himuro was rummaging around in the box of snacks for Murasakibara, who was waiting patiently, very unlike him when it came to food.

Kise had managed to get Aomine to hold his hand, and was sitting there with a stupid grin on his face as the conversation picked up and the afternoon sun moved across the sky.

“Same time next month?” Himuro eventually asked as his phone beeped at him, signalling they had a work call.

“Sure,” Kagami nodded. The ‘brothers’ bumped fists as Himuro and Murasakibara said their goodbyes and left the court first.

Following that, Takao – clearly quite eager to continue what had been started earlier – tugged at Midorima’s hand as they also got up to leave.

“See you next month then, if not before!” he chirped happily as he and Midorima also left the court, hand-in-hand.

Kagami sighed quietly against Kuroko’s shoulder and the shadow looked up, a little concerned. But Kagami was fine, just clearly exhausted, and Kuroko smiled softly, leaning a little closer in to his lover.

Aomine and Kise were talking in whispers a couple of metres away, and as soon as Kise flushed bright red and got up they also made to leave, Aomine surprisingly the one to hang all over the blond rather than the other way around. Kuroko watched them both go, waving as they headed towards the train station, before turning back to Kagami, who’d rested against the fence and shut his eyes.

“You still awake?” Kuroko asked softly, pressing a soft kiss to Kagami’s jaw.

“Hmm,” Kagami made a sort of murmur of agreement, pulling Kuroko closer. “Love you.”

Kuroko felt himself melt as always at the words. “I love you too,” he replied quietly, a little uncommon for him, but Kagami only pulled him closer and kissed him again in thanks.

“Home?” Kuroko asked after another ten minutes of sitting there, watching the sun start to sink behind the trees. “We have work tomorrow.”

Kagami groaned quietly, but nodded against Kuroko’s shoulder and they both got up slowly.

Lacing his fingers through Kuroko’s, Kagami shouldered both of their bags as they headed back towards their apartment, about a twenty minute walk away.

“You happy?” Kagami asked unexpectedly after a few minutes of silence.

Kuroko tilted his head back to look up at his lover, to see him flushed and staring away from him. A brief smile pulled at his lips before he schooled his expression back to its usual impassiveness, but he squeezed Kagami’s hand gently.

“I am,” he replied honestly. “Thank you.”

Kagami squeezed back, finally looking back at his shadow. “I’m glad,” he said honestly, making Kuroko’s stomach churn. _How long would Kagami have the ability to affect him so easily?_ Was something he had wondered silently many a time, and had yet to find an answer.

But Kuroko didn’t mind. He _was_ happy. He had everything he’d ever dreamed of and more. And Kagami was the cause of all of it. Kuroko had vowed to himself to never let go of the love that Kagami had given him, and he was intent on paying every ounce of it back. So bringing Kagami’s hands to his lips and pressing a brief kiss over rough skin, Kuroko closed his eyes briefly and thanked whichever deities that were out there for the things they had given him.

Kagami squeezed his hand gently as they continued to head home in a warm, companionable silence, both appreciating exactly what they had and how lucky they had been.

With the warmth of Kagami next to him, Kuroko promised himself that he’d continue on, with his light by his side, and continue to be happy, and make Kagami as happy as he was. He had a good life, and he would never take it for granted, and never let it go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took longer than I thought - but Christmas has been a bit crazy this year (so tired).  
> also, no smut (sorry) but if I can get around to it (a shaky if atm), I'll be updating "to the 'light' side" soon(ish) and hopefully put some smexy things in there...  
> anyways, this is definitely the end of this particular fic - and I'll do my best to upload the extras soon ish (but I have exams in 15 days and an essay to write before then and so far have prepared 0% of anything so... maybe not til February)
> 
> but thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed ^.^


End file.
